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LIBRARY 

UNtvwsirr  or    , 
V      CMIK»MIA    J 


( 


A     COMBAT     WITH     POLAR    BEARS 


THE  WORLD'S  HEROE: 


A  STOREHOUSE   OF   HEROIC   ACTIONS,  GOLDEN 
DEEDS,   AND   STIRRING   CHRONICLES 


EDITED   BY 

A.  T.  QUILLER-COUCH 


ILLUSTRATED 


MCLOUGHLIN     BROTHERS 

NEW   YORK 


GIFT 


CONTENTS 


OSS' 


An  Awkward  Twenty  Minutes, 

Fights  with  the  Flames, 

Tales  of  the  North  American  Indians  : 

I.  A  Chance  Shot,  .  .  . 

II.  A  Run  from  a  Horrible  Death, 
The  Prison-Breaker, 

The  Story  of  the  Eddystone, 
An  Adventure  in  Spain, 
Mistaken  : 

I.     A  Mistaken  Vengeance, 
II.     The  Blunder  of  M.   Festeau,    . 
III.     The  Cornish  Voter, 
The  Raft  of  the  "Medusa," 
Some  Episodes  of  War  : 

I.     A  Tragedy  of  the  Pe.mnsular  War, 

II.  How  A  Fort  Was  Taken, 

III.  The  Covenanter, 
A  Desperate  Errand, 

A  Tiger  Hunt  in  India, 
Saved  at  Sea : 

I.     The  Tale  ok  the   "Georgian,'' 
II.     An  Adventure  in  the  "Endymion," 
The  Pirate's  Apprentice, 


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063 


THE  WORLD'S  HEROES: 

A  STOREHOUSE  OF 

HEROIC  ACTIONS,  GOLDEN  DEEDS,  AND 
STIRRING  CHRONICLES. 


AN  AWKWARD  TWENTY  MINUTES. 
The  Story  of  a  Buffalo. 

jHE  haunts  of  the  buffalo  are  in  the  hottest  parts  of  Ceylon  In  the 
neighborhood  of  lakes,  swamps,  and  extensive  plains,  the  buffalo 
exists  in  large  herds  ;  wallowing  in  the  soft  mire,  and  passing  two- 
thirds  of  his  time  in  the  water  itself,  he  may  be  almost  termed 
amphibious.  He  is  about  the  size  of  a  large  ox,  of  immense  bone  and  strength, 
very  active,  and  his  hide  is  almost  free  from  hair,  giving  a  disgusting  appear- 
ance to  his  india-rubber-like  skin.  He  carries  his  head  in  a  peculiar  manner, 
the  horns  thrown  back,  and  his  nose  projecting  on  a  level  with  his  forehead, 
thus  securing  himself  from  a  front  shot  in  a  fatal  part.  This  renders  him  a 
dangerous  enemy,  as  he  will  receive  any  number  of  balls  from  a  small  gun  in 
the  throat  and  chest  without  evincing  the  least  symptom  of  distress.  The 
shoulder  is  the  acknowledged  point  to  aim  at,  but,  from  his  disposition  to 
face  the  guns,  this  is  a  difficult  shot  to  obtain.  Should  he  succeed  in  catching 
his  antagonist  his  fury  knows  no  bounds,  and  he  gores  his  victim  to  death, 
trampling  and  kneeling  upon  him  till  he  is  satisfied  life  is  extinct. 

This  sport  would  not  be  very  dangerous  in  the  forests,  where  the  buffalo 
could  be  easily  stalked,  and  where  escape  would  also  be  rendered  less  difficult 
in  case  of  accident  ;  but  as  he  is  generally  met  with  upon  the  open  plains,  free 
from  a  single  tree,  he  must  be  killed  when  once  brought  to  bay,  or  he  will  soon 
exhibit  his  qualifications  for  mischief  There  is  a  degree  of  uncertainty  in  his 
character  which  much  increases  the  danger  of  the  pursuit.  A  buffalo  may 
retreat  at  first  sight  with  every  symptom  of  cowardice,  and  thus  induce  a  too 


6  AN  AWKWARD   TWENTY  MINUTES. 

eager  pursuit,  when  he  will  suddenly  become  the  assailant.  I  cannot  explain 
his  character  better  than  by  describing  the  first  wild  buffaloes  that  I  ever  saw. 

I  had  not  been  long  in  Ceylon  ;  but  having  arrived  in  the  island  for  the 
sake  of  its  wild  sports,  I  had  not  been  idle,  and  had  already  made  a  con- 
siderable bag  of  large  game.  Like  most  novices,  however,  I  was  guilty  of  one 
great  fault.  I  despised  the  game,  and  gave  no  heed  to  the  many  tales  of 
danger  and  hair-breadth  escapes  which  attended  the  pursuit  of  wild  animals. 
This  carelessness  on  my  part  arose  from  my  first  debut  having  been  extremely 
lucky  ;  most  shots  had  told  well,  and  the  animals  had  been  killed  with  such 
apparent  ease  that  I  had  learnt  to  place  an  implicit  reliance  in  the  rifle.  The 
real  fact  was  that  I  was  like  many  others  :  I  had  slaughtered  a  number  of 
animals  without  understanding  their  habits,  and  was  perfectly  ignorant  of  the 
sport.  This  is  now  many  years  ago,  and  it  was  then  my  first  visit  to  the 
island.  Some  places  that  were  good  spots  for  shooting  in  those  days  have 
since  that  time  been  much  disturbed,  and  are  now  no  longer  attractive  to  my 
eyes.     One  of  these  places  is  Minneria  Lake. 

I  was  on  a  shooting  trip,  accompanied  by  my  brother,  whom  I  will  desig- 
nate as    B .     We  had    passed  a   toilsome  day  in  pushing  and    dragging  our 

ponies  for  twenty  miles  along  a  narrow  path  through  thick  jungle,  which  half 
a  dozen  natives  in  advance  were  opening  before  us  with  bill-hooks  This  had 
at  one  time  been  a  good  path,  but  was  then  overgrown.  It  is  now  an  acknow- 
ledged bridle-road.  At  4  p  m  ,  and  eighty  miles  from  Kandy,  we  emerged 
from  the  jungle,  and  the  view  of  Minneria  Lake  burst  upon  us. 

It  was  a  lovely  afternoon.  The  waters  of  the  lake,  which  is  twenty  miles 
in  circumference,  were  burnished  by  the  setting  sun.  The  surrounding  plains 
were  as  green  as  an  English  meadow,  and  beautiful  forest-trees  bordered  the 
extreme  boundaries  of  the  plains,  like  giant  warders  of  the  adjoining  jungle. 
Long  promontaries,  densely  wooded,  stretched  far  into  the  waters  of  the  lake, 
forming  sheltered  nooks  and  bays  teeming  with  wild-fowl.  The  deer  browsed 
in  herds  on  the  wide  extent  of  plain,  or  lay  beneath  the  shade  of  spreading 
branches.  In  some  spots,  groves  of  trees  grew  to  the  very  water's  edge  ;  in 
others,  the  wide  plains,  free  from  a  single  stem  or  bush,  stretched  for  miles 
on  the  edge  of  the  lake  ;  thickly-wooded  hills  bordered  the  extreme  end  of  its 
waters,  and  distant  blue  mountains  mingled  their  dim  summits  with  the  clouds. 

The  village  of  Minneria  was  about  three  miles  further  on,  and  our  coolies, 
servants,  and  baggage  were  all  far  behind  us.  We  had  therefore  na  rifles  or 
guns  at  hand,  except  a  couple  of  short  guns,  which  were  carried  by  our  horse- 
keepers ;  for  these  we  had  a  few  balls  For  about  half  an  hour  we  waited  in 
the  impatient  expectation  of  the  arrival  of  our  servants  with  the  rifles.  The 
afternoon  was  wearing  away,  and  they  did  not  appear.  We  could  wait  no 
longer,  but  determined  to  take  a  stroll  and  examine  the  country.  We  there- 
fore left  our  horses  and  proceeded. 

The  grass  was  most  verdant,   about  the   height  of  a    field   fit   for   the  scythe 


AN  AWKWARD  TWENTY  MINUTES.  7 

in  England,  but  not  so  thick.  From  this  the  snipe  rose  at  every  twenty  of 
thirty  paces,  although  the  ground  was  dry.  Crossing  a  large  meadow,  and 
skirting  the  banks  of  the  lake,  from  which  the  ducks  and  teal  rose  in  large 
flocks,  we  entered  a  long  neck  of  jungle,  which  stretched  far  into  the  lake. 

The  principal  tenants  of  the  plain  were  wild  buffaloes.  A  herd  of  about  a 
hundred  was  lying  in  a  swampy  hollow,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  us. 
Several  bulls  were  dotted  about  the  green  surface  of  the  level  plain,  and  on 
the  opposite  shores  of  the  lake  were  many  dark  patches,  indistinguishable  in 
the  distance  ;  these  were  in  reality  herds  of  buffaloes.  There  was  not  a  sound 
in  the  wide  expanse  before  us,  except  the  harsh  cry  of  the  water-fowl  that 
our  presence  had  already  disturbed  ;  not  a  breath  of  air  moved  the  leaves  of 
the  trees  which  shadowed  us  ;  and  the  whole  scene  was  that  of  undisturbed 
nature.  The  sun  had  now  sunk  upon  the  horizon,  and  the  air  was  compara- 
tively cool.  The  multitude  of  buffaloes  enchanted  us,  and  with  our  two  light 
double-barrels  we  advanced  to  the  attack  of  the  herd  before  us. 

We  had  not  left  the  security  of  the  forest  many  seconds  before  we  were 
observed.  The  herd  started  up  from  their  muddy  bed,  and  gazed  at  us  with 
astonishment.  It  was  a  fair,  open  plain  of  some  thousand  acres  bounded  by  the 
forest  that  we  had  just  quitted  on  the  one  side,  and  by  the  lake  on  the  other  ; 
thus  there  was  no  cover  for  our  advance,  and  all  we  could  do  was  to  push  on. 

As  we  approached  the  herd,  they  ranged  up  in  a  compact  body,  presenting 
a  very  regular  line  in  front.  From  this  line  seven  large  bulls  stepped  forth, 
and  from  their  vicious  appearance  seemed  inclined  to  show  fight.  In  the  mean- 
time we  were  running  up  and  were  soon  within  thirty  paces  of  them.  At  this 
distance  the  main  body  of  the  herd  suddenly  wheeled  round  and  thundered 
across  the  plain  in  full  retreat.  One  of  the  bulls  at  the  same  moment  charged 
straight   at   us  ;  but  when    within    twenty  paces  of  the  guns  he  turned    to  one 

side,  and  instantly  received  two  balls  in  the  shoulder,  B and  I  having  fired 

at  the  same  moment.  As  luck  would  have  it,  his  blade-bone  was  broken,  and 
he  fell  on  his  knees  ;  but  recovering  himself  in  an  instant,  he  retreated  on  three 
legs  to  the  water. 

We  now  received  assistance  from  a  most  unexpected  quarter.  One  of  the 
large  bulls,  his  companions,  charged  after  him  with  great  fury,  and  soon  over- 
taking the  wounded  beast,  struck  him  full  in  the  side,  throwing  him  over  with 
a  great  shock  on  the  muddy  border  of  the  lake.  Here  the  wounded  animal  lay, 
unable  to  rise,  and  his  conqueror  commenced  a  slow  retreat  across  the  plain. 

Leaving  B to  extinguish  the  wounded  buffalo,  I  gave  chase  to  the  re- 
treating bully.  At  an  easy  canter  he  would  gain  a  hundred  paces,  and  then, 
turning,  he  would  face  me  ;  throwing  his  nose  up,  and  turning  his  bead  on  one 
side  with  a  short  grunt,  he  would  advance  quickly  for  a  few  paces,  and  then 
again  retreat  as  I  continued  to  approach.  In  this  manner  he  led  me  a  chase 
of  about  a  mile  along  the  banks  of  the  lake  ;  but  he  appeared  determined  not 
to  bring  the  fight  to  an  issue  at  close  quarters.     Cursing  his  cowardice,  I  fired 


8  AN  AWKWARD  TWENTY  MINUTES. 

a  long  shot  at   him,    and   reloading  with  my   last   spare  ball,    I  continued   the 
chase. 

The  lake  in  one  part  stretched  in  a  narrow  creek  into  the  plain,  and  the 
bull  now  directed  his  course  into  the  angle  formed  by  this  turn.  I  thought  that 
I  had  him  in  a  corner,  and  redoubling  my  exertions,  I  gained  upon  him  con- 
siderably. He  retreated  slowly  to  the  very  edge  of  the  creek,  and  I  had  gained 
so  fast  upon  him  that  I  was  not  thirty  paces  distant  when  he  plunged  into 
the  water,  and  commenced  swimming  across  the  creek.  This  was  not  more 
than  sixty  yards  in  breadth,  and  I  knew  that  I  could  now  bring  him  to  action. 

Running  round  the  borders  of  the  creek  as  fast  as  I  could,  I  arrived  at 
the  opposite  side,  on  his  intended  landing-place,  just  as  his  black  form  reared 
from  the  deep  water  and  gained  the  shallows,  into  which  I  had  waded  knee- 
deep  to  meet  him.  I  now  experienced  that  pleasure  as  he  stood  sullenly  eyeing 
me  within  fifteen  paces.  Poor,  stupid  fellow  !  I  would  willingly,  in  my  ignor- 
ance, have  betted  ten  to  one  upon  the  shot,  so  certain  was  I  of  his  death  in 
another  instant. 

I  took  a  quick  but  steady  aim  at  his  chest,  at  the  point  of  connection  with 
the  throat.  The  smoke  of  the  barrel  passed  to  one  side.  There  he  stood  ;  he 
had  not  flinched  ;  he  literally  had  not  moved  a  muscle.  The  only  change  that 
had  taken  place  was  in  his  eye  ;  this,  which  had  hitherto  been  merely  sullen, 
was  now  beaming  with  fury  ;  but  his  form  was  as  motionless  as  a  statue.  A 
stream  of  blood  poured  from  a  wound  within  an  inch  of  the  spot  at  which  I  had 
aimed  ;  had  it  not  been  for  this  fact,  I  should  not  have  believed  him  struck. 

Annoyed  at  the  failure  of  the  shot,  I  tried  him  with  the  left-hand  barrel 
at  the  same  hole.  The  report  of  the  gun  echoed  over  the  lake,  but  there  he 
stood  as  if  he  bore  a  charmed  life  ;  an  increased  flow  of  blood  from  the  wound 
and  additional  lustre  in  his  eye  were  the  only  signs  of  his  being  struck. 

I  was  now  unloaded,  and  had  not  a  single  ball  remaining.  It  was  his  turn. 
I  dared  not  turn  to  retreat,  as  I  knew  he  would  immediately  charge,  and  we 
stared  each  other  out  of  countenance.  With  a  short  grunt  he  suddenly  sprang 
forward,  but  fortunately,  as  I  did  not  move,  he  halted  ;  he  had,  however, 
decreased  his  distance,  and  we  now  gazed  at  each  other  within  ten  paces. 

I  began  to  think  buffalo-shooting  somewhat  dangerous,  and  I  would  have 
given  something  to  have  been  a  mile  away,  but  ten  times  as  much  to  have 
had  my  four-ounce  rifle  in  my  hand.  Oh,  how  I  longed  for  that  rifle  in  this 
moment  of  suspense  !  Unloaded,  without  the  power  of  defence,  with  the 
absolute  certainty  of  a  charge  from  an  overpowering  brute,  my  hand  instinc- 
tively found  the  handle  of  my  hunting-knife,  a  useless  weapon  against  such  a 
foe. 

Knowing  that  B was  not  aware  of  my  situation,  at   the  distance  which 

separated  us — about  a  mile — without  taking  my  eyes  from  the  figure  before 
me,  I  raised  my  hand  to  my  mouth,  and  gave  a  long  and  loud  whistle.  This 
was  a  signal  that  I  knew  would  soon  be  answered,  if  heard.     With  a  stealthy 


AN  A\VKWARD  TWENTY  MINUTES.  9 

step  and  another  short  grunt,  the  bull  again  advanced  a  couple  of  paces  towards 
me.  He  seemed  aware  of  my  helplessness,  and  he  was  the  picture  of  rage  and 
fury,  pawing  the  water,  and  stamping  violently  with  his  fore-foot.  This  was 
very  pleasant  !  I  gave  myself  up  for  lost  :  but,  putting  as  fierce  an  expression 
into  my  features  as  I  could  possibly  assume,  I  stared  helplessly  at  my  mad- 
dened antagonist. 

Suddenly  a  bright  thought  flashed  through  my  mind.  Without  taking  my 
eyes  off  the  animal  before  me,  I  put  a  double  charge  of  powder  down  the 
right-hand  barrel,  and  tearing  off  a  piece  of  my  shirt,  took  all  the  money 
from  my  pouch — some  small  coin  which  I  luckily  had  with  me  for  paying 
coolies.  Quickly  making  them  into  a  rouleau  with  the  piece  of  rag,  I  rammed 
them  down  the  barrel,  and  they  were  hardly  well  home  before  the  bull  again 
sprang  forward 

So  quick  w^as  it,  that  I  had  no  time  to  replace  the  ramrod,  and  I  threw 
it  into  the  water,  bringing  my  gun  on  full  cock  in  the  same  instant.  However, 
he  again  halted,  being  now  within  about  seven  paces  from  me,  and  we  again 
gazed  fixedly  at  each  other,  but  with  altered  feelings  on  my  part.  I  had  faced 
him  hopelessly  with  an  empty  gun  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  which 
seemed  a  century.  I  now  had  a  charge  in  my  gun,  which  I  knew,  if  reserved 
till  he  was  within  a  foot  of  the  muzzle,  would  certainly  floor  him  ;  and  I 
waited  his  onset  with  comparative  carelessness. 

At  this  moment  I  heard  a  splashing  in  the  water  behind  me,  accompanied 
by  the  hard  breathing  of  some  one  evidently  distressed.     The  next  moment  I 

heard    B 's  voice.     He  could    hardly  speak  for  want  of  breath,  having  run 

the  whole  way  to  my  rescue  ;  but  I  could  understand  that  he  had  only  one 
barrel  loaded,  and  no  bullets  left. 

I  dared  not  turn  my  face  from  the  buffalo  ;  but  I  cautioned  B- to  re- 
serve his  fire  till  the  bull  should  be  close  into  me,  and  then  to  aim  at  the 
head  The  words  were  hardly  uttered  when,  with  the  concentrated  rage  of  the 
last  twenty  minutes,  he  rushed  straight  at  me. 

It  was  the  w^ork  of  an  instant.     B fired  without  effect.     The  horns  were 

lowered,  their  points  were  on  either  side  of  me,  and  the  muzzle  of  the  gun 
barely  touched  his  forehead,  when  I  pulled  the  trigger,  and  three  shillings' 
worth  of  small  change  rattled  into  his  small  head. 

Down  he  went,  and  rolled  over  with  the  suddenly-checked  momentum  of  his 

charge.     Away  went  B and  I,  as  fast  as  our  heels  would  carry  us,  through 

the  water  and  over  the  plain,  knowing  that  he  was  not  dead,  but  only  stunned. 
There  was  a  fallen  tree  about  half  a  mile  from  us,  whose  whitened  branches, 
rising  high  above  the  ground,  offered  a  tempting  asylum.  To  this  we  directed, 
our  flying  steps,  and  after  a  run  of  a  hundred  yards  we  turned  and  looked 
behind  us.  He  had  regained  his  feet  and  was  following  us  slowly.  We  now 
experienced  the  difference  of  feeling  between  hunting  and  being  hunted  ;  and 
fine  sport  we  must  have  afforded  him. 


FACING    THE    BUFFAI.O. 


AN  AWKWARD  TWENTY  MINUTES.  ii 

On  he  came,  but  fortunately  so  stunned  by  the  collision  with  Her  Majesty's 
features  upon  the  coin  which  he  had  dared  to  oppose,  that  he  could  only  reel 
forward  at  a  slow  canter.  By  degrees  even  this  pace  slackened,  and  he  fell.  We 
were  only  too  glad  to  be  able  to  reduce  our  speed  likewise  ;  but  we  had  no 
sooner  stopped  to  breathe  than  he  was  up  again  and  after  us.  At  length,  how- 
ever, we  gained  the  tree,  and  beheld  him  with  satisfaction  stretched  powerless 
on  the  ground,  but  not  dead,  within  two  hundred  yards  of  us.  We  retreated 
under  cover  of  the  forest  to  the  spot  at  which  we  had  left  the  horses,  fortunate- 
ly meeting  no  opposition  from  wild  animals,  and  we  shortly  arrived  at  the 
village,  at  which  we  took  up  our  quarters,  vowing  vengeance  on  the  following 
morning  for  the  defeat  we  had  sustained. 

The  next  morning  we  were  up  at  daybreak,  and  returned  to  the  battle-field 
of  the  previous  evening,  in  the  full  expectation  of  seeing  our  wounded  antag- 
onist lying  dead  where  we  had  left  him.  In  this  we  were  disappointed  :  he 
was  gone,  and  we  never  saw  him  again. 

I  had  now  my  long  two-ounce  and  my  four-ounce  rifles  with  me,  and  I  was 
fully  prepared  for  a  deep  revenge  for  the  disgrace  of  yesterday.  The  morning 
was  clear  but  cloudy,  a  heavy  thunder-storm  during  the  night  had  cooled  the 
air,  and  the  whole  plain  was  glistening  with  bright  drops  ;  the  peacocks  were 
shrieking  from  the  tree-tops,  and  spreading  their  gaudy  plumage  to  the  cool 
breeze,  and  the  whole  face  of  nature  seemed  refreshed.  We  felt  the  same  in- 
vigorating spirit,  as  we  took  a  long  survey  of  the  many  herds  of  buffaloes  upon 
the  plain,  before  we  could  determine  which  we  should  first  attack. 

A  large  single  bull,  which  had  been  lying  in  a  swampy  hollow,  unobserved 
by  us,  suddenly  sprang  up  at  about  three  hundred  yards'  distance,  and  slowly 
cantered  off  I  tried  the  long  two-ounce  rifle  at  him,  but  taking  too  great  an 
elevation,  I  fired  over  him.  The  report,  however,  had  the  effect  of  turning 
him,  and  instead  of  retreating  he  wheeled  round,  and  attempted  to  pass  be- 
tween the  guns  and  the  banks  of  the  lakes. 

We  were  about  three  hundred  yards  from  the  water's  edge,  and  he  was  soon 
passing  us  at  full  gallop,  at  right  angles,  about  midway,  or  a  hundred  and  fifty 
yards  distant.  I  had  twelve  drachms  of  powder  in  the  four-ounce  rifle,  and  I 
took  a  flying  shot  at  his  shoulder. 

No  visible  effect  was  produced,  and  the  ball  ricocheted  completely  across 
the  broad  surface  of  the  lake  (which  was  no  more  ^han  a  mile  wide  at  this 
part)  in  continuous  splashes.  The  gun-bearers  said  f  had  fired  behind  him, 
but  I  had  distinctly  heard  the  peculiar  fut  which  a  ball  makes  upon  striking 
an  animal  ;  and  although  the  passage  of  the  ball  across  the  lake  appeared  re- 
markable, nevertheless  I  felt  positive  that  it  had  first  passed  through  some 
portion  of  the  animal. 

Away  the  bull  sped  over  the  plain  at  unabated  speed  for  about  two  hundred 
paces,  when  he  suddenly  turned  and  charged  towards  the  guns.  On  he  came 
for  about  a  hundred  yards,  but  evidently  slackening  his  speed  at  every  stride. 


12  AN  AWKWARD  TWENTY  MINUTES. 

At  length  he  stopped  altogether.  His  mouth  was  wide  open,  and  I  could  now 
distinguish  a  mass  of  bloody  foam  upon  his  lips  and  nostrils.  The  ball  had  in 
reality  passed  through  his  lungs,  and  making  its  exit  from  the  opposite  shoul- 
der, had  even  then  flown  across  the  lake. 

Having  reloaded,  I  now  advanced  towards  him,  and  soon  arrived  within 
fifty  paces.  He  was  the  fascimile  of  the  bull  that  had  chased  us  on  the 
previous  day — the  same  picture  of  fury  and  determination  ;  and,  crouching  low, 
he  advanced  a  few  paces,  keeping  his  eyes  fixed  upon  us,  as  though  we  were 
already  his  own.  A  short  cough,  accompanied  by  a  rush  of  blood  from  his 
mouth,  seemed  to  cause  him  great  uneasiness,  and  he  halted.  Again  we 
advanced  till  within  twenty  paces  of  him.  I  would  not  fire,  as  I  saw  that  he 
already  had  enough,  and  I  wished  to  see  how  long  he  could  support  a  wound 
through  the  lungs,  as  my  safety  in  buffalo-shooting  might  in  future  depend 
upon  this  knowledge.  The  fury  of  his  spirit  seemed  to  war  with  death  ;  and, 
although  reeling  with  weakness  and  suffocation,  he  again  attempted  to  come  on. 
It  was  his  last  effort  :  his  eyes  rolled  convulsively,  he  gave  a  short  grunt  of 
impotent  rage,  and  the  next  moment  he  fell  upon  his  back,  with  his  heels  in 
the  air      He  was  stone-dead,  and  game  to  the  last  moment. 

But  upon  turning  from  the  carcase  before  us,  we  observed  to  our  surprise 
that  a  large  herd  of  buffaloes,  that  were  at  a  great  distance  when  we  had 
commenced  the  attack  upon  the  bull,  had  now  approached  to  within  a  few 
hundred  yards,  and  were  standing  in  a  dense  mass  attentively  watching  us. 

Without  any  delay  we  advanced  towards  them  ;  and  upon  arriving  within 
about  a  hundred  paces,  we  observed  that  the  herd  was  headed  by  two  large 
bulls,  one  of  which  was  the  largest  I  had  ever  seen.  The  whole  herd  was 
bellowing  and  pawing  the  ground.  They  had  winded  the  blood  of  the  dead 
bull,  and  appeared  perfectly  maddened. 

We  continued  to  advance,  and  were  within  about  ninety  paces  of  them, 
when  suddenly  the  whole  herd  of  about  two  hundred  buffaloes,  headed  by  the 
two  large  bulls  before  mentioned,  dashed  straight  for  us  at  full  gallop. 

So  simultaneous  was  the  onset  that  it  resembled  a  sudden  charge  of  cavalry, 
and  the  ground  vibrated  beneath  their  heavy  hoofs.  Their  tails  were  thrown 
high  above  their  backs,  and  the  mad  and  overpowering  phalanx  of  heads  and 
horns  came  rushing  forward  as  though  to  sweep  us  at  once  from  the  face  of 
the  earth. 

There  was  not  an  instant  to  be  lost  ;  already  but  a  short  space  intervened 
between  us  and  apparently  certain  destruction.  Our  gun-bearers  were  almost 
in  the  act  of  flight  ;  but  catching  hold  of  the  man  who  carried  the  long  two- 
ounce  rifle,  and  keeping  him  by  my  side,  I  awaited  the  irrestisible  onset  with 
the  four-ounce 

The  largest  of  the  bulls  was  some  yards  in  advance,  closely  followed  by  his 
companion,  and  the  herd  in  a  compact  mass  came  thundering  down  at  their 
heels.     Only  fifty  yards  separated  us  ;  we  literally  felt  among  them,  and  already 


AN  AWKWARD  TWENTY  MINUTES. 


13 


experienced  a  sense  of  being  overrun.  I  did  not  look  at  the  herd,  but  kept 
my  eye  upon  the  big  bull  leader.  On  they  flew,  and  were  within  thirty  paces  of 
us,  when  I  took  a  steady  shot  with  the  four-ounce,  and  the  leading  bull 
plunged  head-foremost  in  the  turf,  turning  a  complete  somersault 

Snatching  the  two-ounce  from  the  petrified  gun-bearer,  I  had  just  time  for 
a  shot  as  the  second  bull  was  within  fifteen  paces,  and  at  the  flash  of  the  rifle 
his  horns  ploughed  up  the  turf,  and  he  lay  almost  at  our  feet. 

That  lucky  shot  turned  the  whole  herd  When  certain  destruction  threat- 
ened us,  they  suddenly  wheeled  to  their  left,  when  within  twenty  paces  of  the 
guns,  and  left  us  astonished  victors  of  the  field.  We  poured  an  ineffectual 
volley  into  the  retreating  herd  from  the  light  guns,  as  they  galloped  off  in 
full  retreat,  and  reloaded  as  quickly  as  possible,  as  the  two  bulls,  though 
floored,  were  still  alive.  They  were,  however,  completely  powerless,  and  a 
double-barrelled  gun  gave  each  the  coup  de  grace  hy  di  ball  in  the  forehead. 
Both  rifle-shots  had  struck  at  the  point  of  junction  of  the  throat  and  chest, 
and  the  four-ounce  ball  had  passed  out  of  the  hind-quarters.  Our  friend  of 
yesterday,  although  hit  in  precisely  the  same  spot,  had  laughed  at  the  light 
guns. 

Having  cut  out  the  tongues  from  the  two  bulls,,  we  turned  home  to  breakfast. 


:r  '•*' 


THE  CHARGE   OF  THE   J{ERD. 


14 

FIGHTS  WITH  THE  FLAMES. 

|BOUT  a  hundred  years  ago,  long  before  James  Braidwood  had  arisen 
to  organise  the  fire-brigades  of  Edinburgh  and  London  and  set 
the  example  which  has  since  been  followed  by  every  town  in 
the  civilised  world,  late  on  a  dark  afternoon  a  young  stableman, 
John  Elliot  by  name,  was  sauntering  carelessly  homewards  down  Piccadilly, 
when  a  glare  in  the  sky,  the  confused  murmurs  of  a  large  crowd,  and  the 
hurrying  footsteps  of  pedestrians  who  passed  him,  told  of  a  not  distant  fire. 

Following  the  footsteps  of  the  passers-by,  he  found  himself  in  one  of  the 
side  streets  leading  off  Piccadilly,  and  there  at  the  end  of  the  street,  a  large 
house  was  blazing  furiously.  He  worked  his  way  vigorously  through  the 
spectators,  now  so  densely  gathered  as  to  form  a  living  wedge  in  the  narrow 
street  and  block  it  against  all  traffic,  and  at  length  found  himself  in  a  position 
to  see  clearly  the  ruin  that  had  already  been  wrought  on  the  burning  pile. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  all  was  pretty  well  over  with  the  house.  How  far  the 
upper  storeys  were  intact  he  had  little  means  of  judging  ;  ^but  he  saw  that  the 
ceilings  of  the  first  and  second  floors  had  given  way,  and  also  that  the  fire 
was  running  along  the  rafters  of  the  floor  above.  Flames  were  pouring  from 
half  a  dozen  windows.  He  turned  to  a  man  who  stood  next  him  in  the 
concourse,  • 

"  The  house  is  nearly  done  for,"  he  remarked. 

"  Quite,"  replied  the  man.  •' You  see  it  is  burned  through,  and  it  is  only  a 
question  of  minutes  before  the  roof  must  tumble  in.  The  firemen  do  not  dare 
to  make  any  further  attempt.     It  is  a  dreadful  business." 

"  What  ? " 

"  Why,  don't  you  know  ?  This  is  Lady  Dover's  house — poor  old  soul  !  and 
she  is  still  there,  in  the  top  room.  No  one  can  save  her  now,  but  it  is  a 
hideous  death  all  the  same." 

Elliot  looked  about  him  and  now  understood  the  pallor  on  the  upturned 
faces  of  the  crowd.  He  looked  at  the  house  again.  The  whole  street  was 
wrapped  in  a  crimson  mist  ;  the  falling  streams  of  water  which  the  firemen  still 
continued  to  direct  on  the  blaze  were  hissing  impotently,  and  seemed  only  to 
feed  the  fire.  In  the  crowd  that  watched  there  was  hardly  a  sound,  one  could 
almost  hear  men's  hearts  beating  as  they  waited  for  the  conclusion  of  the  tragedy 
which  they  knew  to  be  inevitable.  But  further  down  the  street,  where  it  was 
not  understood  that  human  life  was  at  stake  in  the  midst  of  this  spectacle, 
rose  the  sounds  of  girls  laughing,  men  quarrelling  and  fighting,  whistling,  oaths, 
and  merriment.  Caps  were  flyir.g  about,  and  the  mass  was  jostling  and  sway- 
ing to  and  fro,  as  before  Newgate  on  a  Monday  morning. 

"Do  you  mean  to  say,''  asked  Elliot,  after  a  moment,  "that  the  poor  old 
lady  is  up  there  and  nobody  is  going  to  save  her  .''" 


FIGHTS  WITH   THE   FLAMES.  15 

"  What's  the  use  ?  "  answered  the  man.  "  If  you  think  it  possible,  better  try 
for  yourself."  But  this  reply  was  not  heard,  for  the  young  stableman  had  al- 
ready begun  to  push  his  way  forward  to  the  group  of  firemen  that  stood 
watching  the  conflagration  in  despair. 

He  was  a  man  of  extraordinary  strength,  and  now  with  a  set  purpose 
to  inspire  him  still  further,  he  scattered  the  crowd  to  right  and  left,  elbowing, 
pushing,  and  thrusting,  until  he  stood  before  the  firemen  and  repeated  his 
question. 

He  met  with  the  same  answer.  "  It  was  impossible,"  they  said.  Everything 
had  been  done  that  could  be,  and  now  there  was  nothing  but  to  wait  for  the 
end. 

"  But  it  is  a  question  of  human  life,"  he  objected. 

In  reply  they  merely  pointed  to  the  flame-points  now  running  along  every 
yard  of  woodwork  still  left  in  the  building 

Elliot  caught  a  ladder  from  their  hands  and,  running  forward  with  it, 
planted  it  firmly  against  the  house.  He  had  to  choose  his  place  carefully,  as 
almost  every  one  of  the  windows  above  was  belching  out  an  angry  blaze. 

"Which  is  the  window  where  they  were  last  seen  .-' "  he  asked. 

The  fireman  pointed.  The  crowd  at  length  finding  that  a  brave  man  was 
going  to  risk  his  life,  raised  a  cheer  as  they  caught  sight  of  him,  and  standing 
on  tiptoe,  peered  over  each  other's  shoulders  to  get  a  better  view  of  the  work 
that  was  forward. 

"  Now  then,"  said  Elliot,  "  don't  try  to  stop  the  flames,  for  that  is  useless, 
but  keep  the  water  playing  on  the  ladder  all  the  time  " 

He  slipped  off  his  shoes,  and  amid  another  cheer  from  the  crowd,  dashed  up 
it  as  quick  as  thought.  The  window  to  which  the  fireman  had  pointed  was 
clear  of  flames.  On  gaining  it,  Elliot  sprang  on  to  the  sill  and  jumped  down 
into  the  room. 

It  was  lighted  brilliantly  enough  by  the  glow  from  the  street,  and  through 
the  dense  smoke  that  was  already  beginning  to  fill  it  he  saw  two  figures. 

Both  were  women,  and  for  a  moment  the  gallant  man  doubted  that  he  had 
come  in  time  ;  for  so  still  and  motionless  were  they  that  it  seemed  as  if  the 
smoke  must  have  already  stifled  them,  and  left  them  in  these  startling  attitudes 
One — a  very  old  lady — was  kneeling  by  the  bedside,  her  head  bent  forward  in 
despair,  her  hands  flung  out  over  the  counterpane.  The  other — a  tall,  heavy- 
looking  woman — was  standing  bolt  upright  by  the  window.  Neither  spoke  or 
stirred,  and  the  kneeling  woman  did  not  even  raise  her  head  at  the  noise  of 
his  entrance  ;  the  other,  with  eyes  utterly  expressionless  and  awful,  supported 
herself  with  one  hand  against  the  wall,  and  gazed  at  him  speechlessly.  Awe- 
struck by  this  sight,  Elliot  had  to  pause  a  moment  before  he  found  his  speech. 

"  Which  is  Lady  Dover  ? "  he  cried  at  last. 

The  kneeling  woman  lifted  her  head,  saw  him,    and  with  a  cry,  or  rather  a 


i6 


FIGHTS  WITH  THE  FLAMES 


smothered  exclamation  of  hope,  got  upon  her  feet  and  ran  forward  to  hi  m 
He  hurried  her  to  the  window.  She  obeyed  him  in  silence,  for  it  was  clear 
that  terror  had  robbed  her  tongue  of  all  articulate  speech.     He  clambered  out, 


"HE   TURNED  ON    THE   TOPMOST    RUNfi. 


turned  on  the  topmost  rung,  and  flinging  an  arm  round  her  waist,  was  lifting  her 
out,  when  the  other  figure  stepped  forward  and  set  a  hand  on  his  shoulder. 
The  look  on  this  woman's  face  was  now  terrible.  Something  seemed  working 
in  her  throat  and  the  muscles  of  her  face  :  it  was  her  despair  struggling  with 
her  paralysed  senses  for  speech. 


FIGHTS  WITH   THE  FLAMES.  tf 

"Me  too,"  she  at  length  managed  to  mutter  hoarsely  ;  but  the  sound  when 
it  came  was,  as  Elliot  afterwards  declared,  like  nothing  in  heaven  or  earth. 

"  If  life  is  left  in  me,  I  will  come  back  for  you,"  he  cried. 

But  his  heart  failed  him  when  he  saw  the  distance  he  should  have  to  go, 
and  still  more  when  he  noted  her  size.  For  the  ladder  was  slippery  from  the 
water  which  the  firemen  kept  throwing  upon  it,  and  which  alone  saved  it  from 
catching  on  fire.  Moreover,  the  clouds  of  smoke  in  the  room  had  thickened  con- 
siderably since  his  entrance,  and  it  could  not  be  many  minutes  now  before  the 
floor  gave  way,  or  the  roof  crushed  in,  or  both.  He  had  felt  his  feet  scorched 
through  his  stockings,  when  he  set  foot  on  the  boards. 

Down  in  the  street  the  crowd  had  increased  enormously  ;  gentlemen  from 
the  clubs,  waiters  and  loungers  from  a  distance  had  all  gathered  to  look.  As 
Elliot  descended  the  ladder  with  his  burden  a  frantic  storm  of  cheering  broke 
forth — for  every  soul  present  understood  the  splendid  action  that  had  just 
been  performed  ;  and  the  crush  around  the  foot  of  the  ladder  of  those  who 
pressed  forward  to  express  their  admiration  was  terrific. 

But  they  knew,  ot  course,  nothing  of  the  stout  lady  still  left  in  the  bed- 
room ;  and  when  Elliot,  heedless  of  the  cheers  and  hand-shakes  that  met  him, 
flung  Lady  Dover  into  the  arms  of  the  nearest  bystander,  and  turned  again 
towards  the  ladder,  they  were  utterly  at  a  loss  to  understand  what  he  could  be 
about. 

But  he  kept  his  word.  A  dead  hush  fell  again  upon  the  spectators,  as  once 
more  the  brave  man  dashed  up  the  ladder,  upon  which  the  firemen  had  ceased 
now  to  play.     Half-way  up  he  turned 

"  Keep  on  at  the  pumps  !  "  he  called  ;  and  then  again  was  up  to  the  window 
and  looked  in.  The  lady  had  still  preserved  her  former  attitude,  though  leaning 
now  further  back  against  the  wall  and  panting  for  breath  in  the  stifling  smoke. 
He  put  his  hand  out  to  her. 

"  Catch  hold  of  my  neck  and  hold  tightly  round  it,"  he  said. 

But  again  she  was  speechless  and  helpless.  Her  eyes  lit  up  as  she  saw  him, 
but  beyond  this  she  hardly  seemed  to  understand  his  words.  Elliot  groaned, 
and  finding,  after  another  trial,  that  she  did  not  comprehend,  boldly  reached  in 
and  grasped  her  round  the  waist. 

She  was  heavier  even  than  he  had  imagined,  and  for  one  fearful  moment,  as 
he  stood  poised  on  the  topmost  rung,  he  thought  that  all  was  over.  It  seemed 
impossible  that  they  should  ever  reach  the  ground  except  by  tumbling  off  the 
ladder.  By  a  superhuman  effort,  however,  he  managed  to  drag  her  out,  and 
then  clasping  her  waist  with  one  arm,  whilst  with  the  other  he  held  on  like 
grim  death,  he  hung  breathless  for  a  moment,  and  then  began  slowly  to  de- 
scend. 

Up  to  this  point  there  had  been  no  sound  in  the  street  below  But  now, 
as  the  watchers  saw  his  feet  moving  down  the  ladder,  their  enthusiasm  broke 
out  in  one  deep  sigh,  followed  by  yells  and  shouts  of  admiration.    As  the  young 


18  FIGHTS  WITH   THE  FLAMES. 

stableman  slowly  desecended,  and  finally,  by  God's  mercy,  reached  the  ground 
with  his  burden,  these  feelings  broke  all  bounds.  Men  rushed  round  him  ; 
Guineas  were  poured  by  the  handful  into  his  pockets  ;  and  when  these  and 
his  hands  were  full,  the  gold  was  even  stuffed  into  his  mouth. 

But,  in  the  midst  of  this  excitement,  a  sudden  crash  caused  the  spectators 
to  look  upwards  again.  It  was  the  roof  of  the  house  that  had  fallen  in,  only  a 
minute  after  Elliot  had  set  his  foot  upon  the  ground. 

The  lady  whom  he  had  saved  by  this  second  brave  ascent  was  a  relative  of 
Lady  Dover,  by  name  Mile,  von  Hompesch.  It  is  pleasant  to  hear  that  her 
preserver  was  rewarded  by  the  family  of  Lady  Dover,  who  bestowed  a  pension 
upon  him.  At  a  later  period  he  w^as  in  the  service  of  the  first  Lord  Braybrooke, 
and  this  narrative  was  preserved  by  a  member  of  the  family  who  had  often 
heard  Elliot  relate  it.  Like  all  brave  men,  he  never  spoke  vaingloriously  of 
his  exploit  ;  but  always  professed  great  gratitude  for  his  reward,  which  seemed 
to  him  considerably  higher  than  his  deserts. 

Among  the  many  heroes  of  the  London  Fire  Brigade,  few  have  left  a  brighter 
record  than  Conductor  Sunshine,  of  whose  exploits  one  shall  next  be  related. 

In  November,  1844,  the  conductor  was  summoned  to  a  fire  which  had  broken 
out  in  Hatton  Garden.  On  his  arrival  the  following  state  of  things  met  his 
eye.  The  second  floor  of  the  house-front  contained  four  windows,  and  at  one 
of  these  a  man  was  seated,  in  his  night-shirt,  on  the  window-sill,  with  his  legs 
hanging  over.  At  the  other  extremity  of  the  house-front,  and  on  the  third 
floor,  another  man  was  hanging  to  a  window-ledge  by  his  hands. 

The  conductor  rescued  the  first-named  man,  and  then  turned  his  attention 
to  the  second.  But  to  save  him  was  no  easy  task.  To  raise  the  third-floor 
ladder  was  too  great  a  risk,  for  more  than  likely  it  would  hit  the  poor  fellow's 
hands  and  disengage  him  from  his  hold  Conductor  Sunshine  therefore  was 
driven  to  try  what  might  be  done  with  the  second-floor  ladder.  By  placing  it 
tn  a  position  as  nearly  vertical  as  was  safe,  and  by  climbing  to  the  top,  he 
found  that  he  could  just  touch,  by  reaching  upwards  with  his  arms,  the  dang- 
ling feet  of  the  unhappy  man  And  in  this  position,  too,  he  had  himself  the 
scantiest  of  holds,  and  only  prevented  himself  from  falling  backwards  by 
firmly  grasping  the  frame  of  a  second-floor  window,  his  only  footing  being  on 
the  topmost  rung  of  the  ladder. 

Nothing  was  to  be  done  therefore  but  to  call  on  the  man  to  let  go  his  hold 
and  drop.  Twice  he  shouted,  but  at  length  discovered  from  his  silence  and  the 
shouts  of  the  spectators  below  that  the  man  was  deaf  and  dumb  !  In  despair 
now  of  effecting  a  rescue,  the  conductor  tapped  him  gently  on  the  foot.  The 
man  seemed  to  understand  at  once,  and  relinquished  his  hold  on  the  ledge.  It 
will  hardly  be  believed  that  Mr.  Sunshine,  so  situated,  contrived  to  let  him  slip 
gradually  down  between  himself  and  the  wall,  and  catching  him  by  the  waist  as 
soon  as  his  feet  touched  the  ladder,  brought  him  down  to  the  ground  in  safety. 


FIGHTS  WITH   THE  FLAMES.  19 

Here  are  two  anecdotes  of  another  conductor,  a  Mr.  Chapman  : — 

At  a  fire  to  which  he  was  summoned,  this  intrepid  man  crossed  the  roofs 
of  two  out-buildings  with  his  ladder,  and  managed  to  fix  it  upon  the  roof  ol 
a  third  and  against  the  second  back  floor  of  the  burning  house  Having  res- 
cued a  lady  from  one  of  the  windows,  he  had  to  find  his  way  back  over  the 
roofs  of  the  out-buildings  before  he  could  land  her  in  safety  on  tirra  firma. 
But  the  roofs  were  now  on  fire  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  rafters  underneath  had  ig- 
nited, and  the  flames  were  now  bursting  up  through  the  tiling  His  only  pos- 
sible road  to  safety  was  by  planting  his  ladder  across  the  blazing  gulf  and 
creeping  across  it  with  his  burden.  This  he  did,  and  hardly  had  he  touched 
the  solid  earth  before  the  whole  of  the  roof  which  he  had  thus  traversed  fell 
in  with  a  resounding  crash. 

On  another  occasion,  the  fire  this  time  being  in  a  house  in  the  Tottenham 
Court  Road,  Conductor  Chapman  having  planted  his  ladder  against  the  build- 
ing and  effected  an  entrance  by  a  second-floor  window,  was  twice  driven  back 
by  reason  of  his  lamp  going  out  in  the  dense  smoke  Having  taken  refuge  on 
his  ladder  for  a  second  time,  and  relit  his  lamp,  he  once  more  climbed  in 
and  explored  the  place.  The  issue  shall  be  given  in  the  concise  and  modest 
language  of  his  own  report  ; — 

"  I  called  out  loud,  and  was  ansv/ered  by  a  kind  of  stifled  cry.  I  rushed 
across  the  landing  to  the  back  room,  and  encountered  a  man,  who  groaned  out> 
*  Oh,  save  my  wife  !  '  I  groped  about,  and  laid  hold  of  a  female,  who  fell  by 
me,  clasping  two  children  in  her  arms.  I  took  them  up  and  brought  them  to 
the  escape,  guiding  the  man  to  follow  me,  and  placed  them  all  safely  in  the 
canvas,  from  whence  they  reached  the  ground  without  any  injury ;  and,  finally, 
I  came  down  myself,  quite  exhausted." 

"We  thought,"  said  a  bystander,  'when  he  jumped  into  the  second-floor 
window  that  we  should  not  see  him  alive  again  :  and  I  cannot  tell  you  how 
he  was  cheered  when  he  appeared  with  the  woman  and  her  two  children  " 

In  the  next  case  the  hero  is  a  Conductor  Wood,  who  for  the  following 
service,  performed  on  the  29th  of  April,  1854,  received  a  testimonial  on  vellum 
in  commemoration  of  his  gallantry. 

The  fire  took  place  in  Colchester  Street,  Whitechapel.  On  the  conductor's 
arrival,  it  was  raging  throughout  the  back  of  the  house,  and  dense  columns  of 
smoke  were  issuing  from  every  window.  Upon  entering  the  first-floor  room, 
part  of  which  was  actually  blazing  at  the  time,  he  discovered  five  persons — a 
husband  and  wife,  and  three  children — almost  in  a  state  of  insensibility  owing 
to  the  appalling  heat.  His  first  thought  was  for  the  woman  He  took  her  on 
his  shoulders,  and  holding-  a  child  by  its  night-clothes  in  his  mouth,  descended 
the  ladder.  Returning  up  the  ladder,  he  re-entered  the  room,  and  having  di- 
rected the  father  to  escape  and  pointed  out  the  proper  means,  he  had  effected 
his  second  descent  with  the  two  remaining  children,  one  under  each  arm,  when 
the  whole  building  became  enveloped  in  flames  from  attic  to  basement. 


£0 


FIGHTS  WITH  THE  FLAMES. 


After  such  an  exploit  as  this,  it  would  be  thought  that  to  add  to  the  list 
would  be  but  to  court  an  anticlimax.  Yet  the  annals  of  the  London  Fire 
Brigade  are  full  of  deeds,  often  as  daring  in  design  and  astounding  in 
execution.     But   the  real   hero  of  the   history   of  this  great   institution  is   the 


"  HOLDING   A   CHILD  BY  ITS   NIGHT.CLOTHES   IN   HIS   MOUTH."      (p.  I9). 

man  who  first  put  it  on  an  eflficient  footing,  and  who  spent  all  the  energy  of 
his  life,  and  finally  life  itself,  in  the  great  task  ot  saving  his  fellow-men  from 
this  most  horrible  of  dangers. 

James  Braidwood  was  born  in  Edinburgh  in  the  last  year  of  the  last 
century.  His  father,  a  builder  and  upholsterer  of  no  mean  report  in  that  city, 
seems  to  have  designed  his  son  for  the  profession  of  a  surveyor.    But  whatever, 


Fights  with  the  flames.  ±t 

the  reason,  James  Braidwood  from  the  first  took  unkindly  to  the  surveyor's 
office,  and  soon  began  to  turn  his  mind  to  what  quickly  became  the  absorbing 
object  of  his  life.  Indeed,  in  his  case,  it  would  seem  that  a  fireman  as  well 
as  a  poet,  nascitur,  non  fit  One  or  two  actions,  displaying  personal  courage  as 
well  as  resourcefulness  of  a  high  order,  having  recommended  him  to  the  notice 
of  those  in  authority,  he  was,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three,  made  Superintendant 
of  the  fire-engines  of  the  city  of  Edinburgh,  and  soon  began  to  show  his  power 
as  a  leader  of  men. 

Almost  as  soon  as  he  entered  on  his  new  office,  he  began  to  reform  the 
system  of  management,  as  clumsy  as  it  was  antiquated,  then  in  vogue.  But 
scarcely  had  he  set  his  hand  to  the  work  of  reform  when  that  series  of  fires 
broke  out  which  even  to  the  present  day  are  talked  about,  and  discussed  in 
the  reminiscences  of  the  age,  as  the  "  Great  Fires  of  Edinburgh." 

The  scene  of  the  conflagration  was  the  famous  High  Street,  and  many  of 
the  ancient  and  loftiest  houses  in  that  city  of  lofty  houses  came  to  their  end  in 
that  one  famous  week.  From  four  hundred  to  five  hundred  families  were 
rendered  homeless,  ten  persons  were  killed,  either  outright  or  by  fatal  injuries, 
and  for  some  days  ruin  threatened  the  whole  of  the  High  Street,  and,  as  some 
thought,  the  larger  part  of  the  Old  Town. 

The  inefficiency  then  displayed  by  the  Edinburgh  Fire  Brigade  might  have 
ruined  a  weaker  man  in  the  early  days  of  his  responsibility.  But,  luckily, 
Braidwood  had  already  made  his  voice  heard  in  protest  against  the  old  system 
of  management,  and  the  Scotch  are  a  judicial  race.  Never,  indeed,  did  a  system 
stand  more  obviously  in  need  of  reorganisation  than  that  of  the  Edinburgh 
Fire  Brigade  by  the  end  of  the  week.  All  had  gone  wrong.  No  one  could 
command,  for  there  was  no  one  to  obey.  Energies  were  wasted  in  efforts  the 
most  random,  and  once  or  twice,  while  the  devastation  spread  before  their 
eyes  the  firemen  turned  their  attention  to  quarrelling  and  recrimination, 
and  were  with  difficulty  restrained  from  a  free  fight 

This  was  more  ,than  enough.  The  city  authorities  and  the  insurance  com- 
panies, beside  themselves  with  panic,  lent  a  ready  ear  to  young  Braidwood,  who 
struck  while  the  iron  was  hot.  Together  they  consented,  on  his  recomenda- 
tion,  to  bear  the  expense  of  reorganising  and  maintaining  an  efficient  brigade. 
Picked  men  were  soon  found,  who,  though  daily  plying  their  ordinary  trade, 
found  time  to  practice  under  the  new  regulations,  and  were  regularly  exercised 
and  inspected  once  a  week  in  the  early  morning.  The  benefits  of  the  new 
system  were  soon  appreciated,  and  the  fame  of  the  Edinburgh  Fire  Brigade 
became  a  household  word  throughout  the  kingdom.  From  this  it  passed  into  a 
model  for  every  new  organisation  for  suppressing  fires,  and  gave  the  great  start 
to  the  Volunteer  Fire  Brigade  Movement  which  has  for  many  years  now  been 
so  healthy  a  feature  in  the  life  of  our  towns. 

If  Braidwood  did  much  by  his  strength  of  purpose,  he  also  did  much  by 
the  charm  of  his  personality.     Never  was  a  man  more  heartily  worshipped  by 


22  nOHTS  WITH   THE  FLAMES. 

his  subordinates,  in  whom  he  inspired  that  confidence  which  has  been  the  great 
secret  of  every  successful  general.  He  never  exposed  a  man  unnecessarily,  and 
if  some  particularly  dangerous  feat  called  for  performance,  would  cheerfully 
undertake  it  himself.  Thus  at  a  fire  in  Edinburgh  he  soon  brought  with  his 
own  hands  out  from  the  burning  building  a  quantity  of  gunpowder,  which  was 
known  to  be  stored  there.  He  entered  alone,  and  while  thousands  in  the  street 
below  held  their  breath,  coolly  searched  about,  found  and  carried  off  first  one 
cask  and  then  another  of  the  substance  which,  if  ignited,  would  have  enor- 
mously increased  the  disaster  of  the  conflagration. 

It  was  almost  ten  years  after  the  reconstitution  of  the  Edinburgh  Fire  Bri- 
gade that  a  similar  work  was  undertaken  in  London.  The  different  insurance 
companies  had  each  its  brigade,  but  the  task  of  uniting  them  under  a  single 
management,  though  often  attempted,  remained  incomplete  until  Braidwood 
himself  had  been  invited  to  come  and  undertake  it. 

He  accepted  :  and,  as  in  Edinburgh,  the  Metropolitan  Brigade  under  his 
superintendence  became  an  entirely  new  force.  There  was  some  opposition,  at 
first,  to  the  rigorous  discipline  ;  but  the  old  firemen  were  soon  pensioned  off, 
and  their  places  supplied  by  men  who  would,  and  could,  obey.  For  Braidwood 
had  that  other  great  quality  of  great  generals — he  knew  how  to  choose  his 
subordinates.  As  a  rule — aad  the  rule  is  still  rigorously  followed  under  Cap- 
tain Shaw — he  chose  sailors,  not  only  because  of  their  trained  lightness  of 
foot,  readiness  of  eye,  and  general  activity,  but  also  because  they  were  ac- 
customed to  obedience,  to  irregular  duty,  and  hardy  endurance.  His  own  con- 
stitution, his  incessant  vigilance,  and  his  sound  judgment  set  the  standard 
which  it  was  the  ambition  of  every  member  af  his  corps  to  emulate  ;  and  the 
almost  paternal  kindness  of  his  rule  did  perhaps  more  than  was  generally  ac- 
knowledged to  cultivate  that  tradition  of  ready  devotion  and  pride  in  their  own 
body  which  are  among  the  brightest  ornaments  of  the  London  Fire  Brigade. 

As  at  Edinburgh,  too,  Braidwood  had  not  long  settled  to  his  work  before 
the  outbreak  of  some  memorable  fires,  by  throwing  the  public  into  a  panic, 
caused  his  demands  for  reform  to  be  listened  to  with  ready  ears.  In  1834,  the 
second  year  of  his  superintendence,  the  old  Houses  of  Parliament  were  burnt, 
and  this  disaster  was  presently  followed  by  a  devastating  fire  at  Mile  End. 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  the  Annual  Report  of  the  Institution  of 
Civil  Engineers  for  the  year  1861  : 

"He  took  great  interest  in  the  passing  of  Acts  of  Parliament  for  regulating 
buildings  in  the  metropolis.  The  wise  provisions  introduced  through  his  in- 
strumentality into  these  Acts  of  Parliament  were  continually  being  evaded,  and 
clusters  of  warehouses  quickly  rose  which  he  saw  would,  if  on  fire,  defy  all  his 
means  of  extinction.  In  a  letter  to  Sir  W.  Molesworth,  First  Commissioner  of 
Public  Works,  dated  10th  February,  1854,  on  the  subject  of  a  proposed  ware- 
house in  Tooley  Street,  he  wrote  :  '  The  whole  building,  if  once  fairly  on  fire 
in  one  floor,  will  become  such  a  mass  of  fire  that  there  is  no  power  in  London 


FIGHTS  WITH  THE  FLAMES. 


23 


capable  of  extinguishing  it,  or  even  of  restraining  its  ravages  on  every  side  ; 
and  on  three  sides  it  will  be  surrounded  by  property  of  immense  value.'" 

Now,  mark  the  event,  which  so  unhappily  confirmed  these  words.  The  great 
fire  at  Cotton's  Wharf,  Tooley  Street,  broke  out  on  Saturday,  June  22nd,  1861, 
and  continued  to  rage  for  upwards  of  a  fortnight,  destroying  warehouse  after 
warehouse,  to  the  extent  of  over  two  millions'  worth  of  property.  It  was 
discovered  in  open  daylight,  and  before  the  flames  had  made  much  headway. 
This  good  fortune  was  soon 
of  no  service  from  the  fact 
that  but  little  water  was  to 
be  had ;  that  the  goods 
stored  at  the  wharf  itself 
and  the  immediate  neighbor- 
hood were  all  highly  com- 
bustible ;  and  that  the  iron 
doors  of  communication  had 
been  left  open,  thus  at  the 
same  time  giving  the  flames 
a  path  and  encouraging 
them  by  a  thorough  draught 

Mr  Braidwood  was  quick- 
ly on  the  spot,  and  dis- 
covering the  gravity  of 
the  case,  summoned  almost 
the  whole  available  strength 
of  the  fire-engine  establish- 
ment. But  he  quickly  fore- 
saw that  all  hopes  of  saving 
the  warehouse  and  property 
were  idle  ;  and  that  the 
very  utmost  that  could  be 
done  was  to  prevent  a  wide 

extension  of  the  fire.  So  fierce  was  the  conflagration,  that  after  two  hour's 
work  the  men  in  charge  of  the  branch  pipes  began  to  suffer  considerably  from 
the  heat.  Braidwood,  always  full  of  consideration  for  his  men,  went  to  give 
them  a  word  of  encouragment  Before  this,  several  explosions  had  been 
heard,  in  the  burning  warehouses,  as  of  casks  of  oil  or  tallow;  but  no  great 
alarm  at  these  was  felt,  as  it  was  understood  that  the  saltpetre  stored  at  the 
wharf  was  in  buildings  which  had  not  yet  been  attacked  by  the  flames. 

But  just  as  Braidwood  was  discharging  this,  which  proved  to  be  his  last,  act 
of  kindness  to  his  men,  a  terrific  explosion  burst  on  the  air  :  the  lofty  wall  at 
his  back  was  rent,  tottered,  and  came  down  with  a  crash,  burying  him  in  its 
ruins      The  men  near  him  had  barely  time  to  dart  back  and  save  themselves 


DEATH  OP  BRAIDWOOD. 


24 


FIGHTS  WITH  THE  FLAMES. 


from  a  similar  fate,  and  a  spectator  who  was  standing  by  Braidwood's  side 
was  buried  with  him.  It  is  a  question  if  a  man  can  die  better  than  at  the 
moment  when  he  is  discharging  the  great  work  of  his  life  ;  and  there  is  no 
question  but  that  James  Braidwood  had  the  most  tremendous  of  funeral  pyres. 
The  fire,  which  had  then  fairly  begun,  was  still  raging  fifteen  days  after  :  it 
would  even  seem  as  if  Braidwood,  in  his  letter  to  Sir  William  Molesworth,  had 
been  gifted  with  the  power  of  prophesying  his  own  death. 

Our  chapter  shall  conclude  with  the  story  of  another,  and  in  his  way  a  very 
distinguished,  member  of  the  London  Fire  Brigade — the  dog  "  Chance."  It 
proves  that  the  fascination  of  fires  (and  who  that  has  witnessed  a  fire  cannot 
own  this  fascination'.'')  extends  even  to  the  brute  creation.  In  old  Egypt, 
Herodotus  tells  us,  the  cats  used  on  the  occasion  of  a  conflagration  to  rush 
forth  from  their  burning  homes,  and  then  madly  attempt  to  return  again  ;  and 
the  Egyptians,  who  worshipped  the  animals,  had  to  form  a  ring  round  to  pre- 
vent their  dashing  past  and  sacrificing  themselves  to  the  flames.  This  may, 
however,  be  due  to  the  cat's  notorious  love  for  home.  In  the  case  of  the  dog 
"  Chance"  another  hypothesis  has  to  be  searched  for. 

The  animal  formed  his  first  acquaintance  with  the  brigade  by  following  a 
fireman  from  a  conflagration  in  Shoreditch  to  the  central  station  at  Watling 
Street.  Here,  after  he  had  been  petted  for  some  time  by  the  men,  his  master 
came  for  him  and  took  him  home.  But  the  dog  quickly  escaped  and  returned 
to  the  central  station  on  the  very  first  opportunity.  He  was  carried  back, 
returned,  was  carried  back  again,  and  again  returned. 

At  this  point  his  master — "Jike  a  mother  whose  son  will  go  to  sea" — 
abandoned  the  struggle  and  allowed  him  to  follow  his  own  course  Hence- 
forth for  years  he  invariably  went  with  the  engine,  sometimes  upon  the  carriage 
itself,  sometimes  under  the  horses'  legs  ;  and  always,  when  going  uphill,  run- 
ning in  advance,  and  announcing  by  his  bark  the  welcome  news  that  the  fire- 
engine  was  at  hand. 

Arrived  at  the  fire,  he  would  amuse  himself  with  pulling  burning  logs  of 
wood  out  of  the  flames  with  his  mouth,  firmly  impressed  that  he  was  rendering 
the  greatest  service,  and  clearly  anxious  to  show  the  laymen  that  he  under- 
stood all  about  the  business.  Although  he  had  his  legs  broken  half  a  dozen 
times,  he  remained  faithful  to  the  profession  he  had  so  obstinately  chosen. 
At  last,  having  taken  a  more  serious  hurt  than  usual,  he  was  being  nursed  by 
the  firemen  beside  the  hearth,  when  a  "  call "  came.  At  the  well-known 
sound  of  the  engine  turning  out,  the  poor  old  dog  made  a  last  effort  to  climb 
upon  it,  and  fell  back — dead. 

He  was  stuffed,  and  preserved  at  the  station  for  some  time.  But  even  in 
death  he  was  destined  to  prove  the  friend  of  the  brigade.  For,  one  of  the 
engineers  having  committed  suicide,  the  firemen  determined  to  raffle  him  for 
the  benefit  of  the  widow,  and  such  was  his  fame  that  he  realised  ^123  los.  ^d.  ! 


25 

TALES  OF  THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  INDIANS. 

I. A    CHANCE    SHOT. 

|T  ,was  in  1779,  when  America  was  struggling  with  England  for  her 
independence,  and  a  division  of  the  English  redcoats  were  en- 
camped on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac.  So  admirably  fortified  was 
their  position  by  river  and  steep  woods,  that  no  ordinary  text-book 
of  warfare  would  admit  the  possibility  of  surprising  it  But  Washington  and 
his  men  did  not  conduct  their  campaigns  by  the  book.  "  If  you  fight  with 
art/'  said  that  general  once  to  his  soldiery,  "  you  are  sure  to  be  defeated. 
Acquire  discipline  enough  for  retreat  and  the  uniformity  of  combined  attack, 
and  your  country  will  prove  the  best  of  engineers." 

In  fact,  it  was  with  a  guerilla  warfare,  and  little  else,  that  the  British  had 
to  contend.  The  Americans  had  enrolled  whole  tribes  of  Indians  in  their  ranks 
and  made  full  use  of  the  Indian  habits  of  warfare.  The  braves  would  steal  like 
snakes  about  the  pathless  forests,  and  dashing  unexpectedly  on  the  outposted 
redcoats,  kill  a  handful  in  one  fierce  charge,  and  then  retreat  pell-mell  back 
into  their  shelter,  whither  to  follow  them  was  to  court  certain  death.  The 
Injuries  thus  inflicted  were  not  overwhelming,  but  they  were  teasing  for  all  that. 
Day  by  day  the  waste  went  on — loss  of  sentinels,  of  stragglers,  sometimes  of 
whole  detachments,  and  all  this  was  more  galling  from  the  impossibility  of 
revenge.  In  order  to  limit  the  depredations  it  was  the  custom  of  the  British 
commanders  to  throw  forward  their  outposts  to  a  great  distance  from  the  main 
body,  to  station  sentinels  far  into  the  woods,  and  cover  the  main  body  with  a 
constant  guard. 

One  regiment  was  suffering  from  little  less  than  a  panic.  Perpetually  and 
day  after  day  sentinels  had  been  missing.  Worse  than  this,  they  had  been  sur- 
prised, apparently,  and  carried  off  without  giving  any  alarm  or  having  time  to 
utter  a  sound.  It  would  happen  that  a  sentinel  went  forward  to  his  post  with 
finger  upon  his  trigger,  while  his  comrades  searched  the  woods  around  and 
found  them  empty.  When  the  relief  came,  the  man  would  just  be  missing. 
That  was  all.  There  was  never  a  trace  left  to  show  the  manner  in  which  he 
had  been  conveyed  away  :  only,  now  and  then,  a  few  drops  of  blood  splashed 
on  the  leaves  where  he  had  been  standing. 

The  men  grew  more  and  more  uneasy.  Most  suspected  treachery.  It  was 
unreasonable,  they  argued,  to  believe  that  man  after  man  could  be  surprised 
without  having  time  even  to  fire  his  musket.  Others  talked  of  magic,  and  grew 
gloomy  with  strange  suspicions  of  the  Indian  medicine-men.  At  any  rate,  here 
was  a  mystery.  Time  would  clear  it  up,  no  doubt  ;  but  meanwhile  the  sentry 
despatched  to  his  post  felt  like  a  man  marked  out  for  death.  It  was  worse. 
Many   men  who  would  have  marched   with   firm  step  to  death  in  any  familiar 


26 


A  CHANCE  SHOT. 


shape,  would  go  with  pale  cheeks  and  bowed  knees  to  this  fate    of  which    no- 
thing was  known  except  that  nothing  was  left  of  the  victim. 

Matters  at  length  grew  intolerable.  One  morning,  the  sentinels  having  been 
set  as  usual  over-night,  the  guard  went 
as  soon  as  dawn  began  to  break  to  re- 
lieve a  post  that  extended  far  into  the 
woods.  The  sentinel  was  gone  !  They 
searched  about,  found  his  footprints 
here  and  there  on  the  trodden  leaves, 
but  no  blood — no  trace  of  struggle,  no 
marks  of  surrounding  enemies.  It  was 
the  old  story,  however,  and    they   had 


"  '  I   SAW   AN   AMFRICAN   HOG  COMING   DOWN   THE   GLADE  '  "(/   28  ) 

almost  given  up  the  problem  by  this  time.     They  left  another  man  at  the    post, 

and  went  their  way  back,  wishing  him  better  luck. 

"  No  need  to  be  afraid,"  he  called  after  them,  *'  I  will  not  desert." 

They  looked  back.     He  was  standing  with  his  musket  ready  to  fly    up    to  his 

shoulder  at  the   slightest    sound,    his    eyes    searching    the    glades    before    him. 


A  CHANCE  SHOT.  27 

There  was  nothing   faint   about   Tom,    they   determined,  and  returned    to  the 
guard-house. 

The  sentinels  were  replaced  every  four  hours,  and  at  the  regular  time  the 
guard  again  marched  to  relieve  the  post.     The  man  was  gone  ! 

They  rubbed  their  eyes,  and  searched  again.  But  this  one  had  disappeared 
as  mysteriously  as  his  fellows.  Again  there  was  no  single  trace.  But  it  was 
all  the  more  necessary  that  the  post  should  not  remain  unguarded  They  were 
forced  to  leave  a  third  man  and  return,,  promising  him  that  the  colonel  should 
be  told  of  his  danger  as  soon  as  they  got  back. 

It  was  panic  indeed  that  filled  the  regiment  when  they  returned  to  the 
guard-house  and  told  the  news.  The  colonel  w^as  informed  at  once.  He 
promised  to  go  in  person  to  the  spot  when  the  man  was  relieved,  and  search 
the  woods  round  about.  This  gave  them  some  confidence,  but  they  went 
nevertheless  with  the  gloomiest  forebodings  as  to  their  comrade's  fate.  As  they 
drew  near  the  spot  they  advanced  at  a  run.  Their  fears  were  justified.  The 
post  was  vacant — the  man  gone  without  a  sound. 

In  the  blank  astonishment  that  followed,  the  colonel  hesitated.  Should  he 
station  a  whole  company  at  the  post  ?  This  would  doubtless  prevent  further 
loss  ;  but  then  it  was  little  likely  to  explain  the  mystery  ;  for  the  hands  that 
had  carried  off  three  sentinels,  would,  it  was  reasonable  to  believe,  make  no 
attempt  to  spirit  away  a  whole  company  of  men.  And  for  future  action  as  well 
as  to  put  an  end  to  the  superstitious  terror  of  the  soldiery,  the  vital  necessity 
was  to  clear  up  the  mystery.  He  had  no  belief  in  the  theory  that  these  men 
deserted.  He  knew  them  too  well.  He  prided  himself  that  he  was  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  his  own  regiment,  and  had  well-grounded  reasons  for  pride  in 
his  men  For  this  reason  he  was  the  more  chary  of  exposing  a  fourth  brave 
man  where  three  had  already  been  lost.  However,  it  had  to  be  done.  The  poor 
fellow  whose  turn  it  was  to  take  the  post,  though  a  soldier  of  proved  courage 
and  even  recklessness  in  action,  positively  shook  from  head  to  foot. 

"  I  must  do  my  duty,  "  he  said  to  the  colonel  "  I  know  that  well  enough  ; 
but  for  all  that  I  should  like  to  lose  my  life  with  a  bit  of  credit  " 

There  was  no  higher  bravery  than  facing  an  indefinite  terror  such  as  this, 
as  the  colonel  was  at  pains  to  point  out,  but  he  added — 

"  I  will  leave  no  man  here  against  his  will." 

Immediately  a  soldier  stepped  out  of  the  ranks. 

",Give  me  the  post,"  he  said  quietly. 

The  colonel  looked  at  the  volunteer  admiringly,  and  spoke  some  words  in 
praise  of  his  courage. 

"  No,"  said  the  man  ;  I  have  an  idea,  that  is  all  What  I  promise 
you  is  that  I  will  not  be  taken  alive  I  shall  give  you  a  deal  of  trouble  ; 
because  you  will  hear  of  me  on  the  least  alarm  If  I  am  given  this  post,  I 
propose  to  fire  my  piece  if  I  hear  the  slightest  noise  If  a  bird  chatters 
or   a  leaf   falls,   my  musket   shall   go    off.     Of    course   you   may  be   alarmed 


28  A  CHANCE  SMOT. 

when  nothing  is  the  matter  :    but  that's  my  condition,  anu  you  must  take  the 
chance." 

"Take  the  chance !"  said  the  colonel.  "It's  the  very  wisest  thing  you  can 
do  You're  a  fellow  of  courage,  and  what's  more,  you're  a  fellow  with  a 
head." 

He  shook  hands  with  him,  as  did  the  rest  of  the  soldiers,  with  faces  full  of 
foreboding.  "  Come,"  said  the  man,  "  don't  look  so  glum  ;  cheer  up,  and  I 
shall  have  a  story  to  tell  you  when  we  meet  again." 

They  left  him  and  went  back  to  the  guard-room  again.  An  hour  passed 
away  in  suspense.  It  seemed  as  though  every  ear  in  the  regiment  were  on 
the  rack  for  the  discharge  of  that  musket.  Hardly  a  man  spoke,  but  as  the 
minutes  dragged  along  the  conviction  gained  ground  that  already  the  brave 
man  had  followed  the  fate  of  the  other  three.  The  colonel  paced  up  and  down 
in  the  guard-room,  as  anxious  as  any  of  the  men.  Ae  looked  at  ^his  watch 
for  the  twentieth  time.     An  hour  and  twenty  minutes  had  gone. 

Suddenly,  down  in  the  woods,  the  report  of  a  musket  rang  out. 

Colonel,  officers,  and  men  poured  out  of  the  guard-room,  almost  without 
a  word,  and  advanced  at  a  double  through  the  woods.  The  mystery  was  going 
to  be  solved  at  last.  Until  quite  close  to  the  spot,  they  were  forced,  by  the 
thickness  of  the  forest,  to  remain  in  ignorance  of  what  had  happened,  and 
whether  their  comrade  was  dead  or  alive.  But  they  shouted,  and  an 
answering  "  Halloa  !"  at  last  came  back.  As  they  turned  into  the  glade  where 
the  sentinel  had  been  posted,  they  beheld  him  advancing  towards  them  and 
dragging  another  man  along  the  ground  by  the  hair  of  the  head. 

He  flung  the  body  down.  It  was  an  Indian,  stone-dead,  with  a  musket- 
wound  in  his  side 

"  How  did  it  happen  .>' "  panted  the  colonel,  beside  himself  with  joy. 

"  Well,"  said  the  soldier,  saluting,  "  I  gave  your  honor  notice  that  I  should 
fire  if  I  heard  the  least  noise  That's  what  I  did,  and  it  saved  my  life  ;  and 
it  just  happened  in  this  way. 

"  I  hadn't  been  long  standing  here,  peering  round  till  my  eyes  ached,  when 
I  heard  a  rustling  about  fifty  yards  away.  I  looked  and  saw  an  American 
hog,  of  the  sort  that  are  common  enough  in  these  parts,  coming  down  the 
glade  opposite,  crawling  along  the  ground  and  sniffing  to  right  and  left — just 
as  if  he'd  no  business  in  life  but  to  sniff  about  for  nuts  under  the  fallen  leaves 
and  all  about  the  roots  of  the  trees  Boars  are  common  enough,  so  I  gave 
him  a  glance  and  didn't  take  much  notice  for  some  minutes. 

"But  after  awhile,  thinks  I  to  myself — 'No  doubt  the  others  kept  their 
eyes  about  them  sharp  enough,  and  was  only  took  in  by  neglecting  something 
that  seemed  of  no  account ; '  so  being  on  the  alarm  and  having  no  idea  wha^ 
was  to  be  feared  and  what  was  not,  I  woke  up  after  some  minutes  and  deter- 
mined  to  keep  my  eyes  on  it  and  watch   how  it  passed  in  and  out  among  the 


A  CHANCE  SHOT.  29 

trees.  For  I  thought,  if  it  comes  on  an  Indian  skulking  about  yonder,  I  may 
be  able  to  learn  something  from  its  movements.  Indians  are  thick  enough  here 
and  to  spare  ;  but  they're  not  so  thick  as  nuts,  for  all  that. 

"  So  I  kept  glancing  at  the  hog,  and  then  looking  round  and  glancing  again. 
Not  another  creature  was  in  sight ;  not  a  leaf  rustling.  And  then,  all  of  a 
sudden — I  can't  tell  why — it  struck  me  as  queer  that  the  animal  was  snuffling 
around  among  the  trees  and  making  off  to  the  right,  seemingly  for  the  thick 
coppice  just  behind  my  post.  I  didn't  want  anything  behind  me,  you  may 
be  sure,  not  even  a  hog,  and  as  it  was  now  only  a  few  yards  from  my  coppice 
I  kept  my  eye  more  constantly  on  it,  and  cast  up  in  my  mind  whether  I 
should  fire  or  not 

"  It  seemed  foolish  enough  to  rouse  you  all  up  by  shooting  a  pig  !  I  fingered 
my  trigger,  and  couldn't  for  the  life  of  me  make  up  my  mind  what  to  do. 
I  looked  and  looked,  and  the  more  I  looked  the  bigger  fool  I  thought  myself 
for  being  alarmed  at  it.  It  would  be  a  rare  jest  against  me  that  I  mistook  a 
pig  for  an  Indian  ;  and  this  was  a  hog  sure  enough.  You've  all  seen  scores  of 
them,  and  know  how  they  move.  Well,  this  one  was  for  all  the  world  like  any 
other,  and  I  was  almost  saying  to  myself  that  'twas  more  like  the  average 
hog  than  any  hog  I'd  ever  seen,  when  just  as  it  got  close  to  the  thicket  I 
fancied  it  gave  an  unusual  spring. 

"  At  any  rate,  fancy  or  no,  I  didn't  hesitate.  I  took  cool  aim,  and  directly 
I  did  so,  felt  sure  I  was  right.  The  beast  stopped  in  a  hesitating  sort  of  way, 
and  by  that  I  knew  it  saw  what  I  was  about,  though  up  to  the  moment  it  had 
never  seemed  to  be  noticing  me.  *  An  Indian's  trick,  for  a  sovereign,'  thought 
I,  and  pulled  the  trigger. 

"It  dropped  over  like  a  stone  ;  and  then,  as  I  stood  there,  still  doubting  if 
it  were  a  trap  that  I  should  fall  into  by  running  to  look,  I  heard  a  groan — 
and  the  groan  of  a  man,  too.  I  loaded  my  musket  and  ran  up  to  it.  I  had 
shot  an  Indian,  sure  enough,  and  that  groan  was  his  last. 

He  had  wrapped  himself  in  the  hog's  skin  so  completely,  and  his  hands  and 
feet  were  so  neatly  hid,  and  he  imitated  the  animal's  walk  and  noise  so  cleverly, 
that  I  swear,  if  you  saw  the  trick  played  again,  here  before  you,  your  honor 
would  doubt  your  honor's  eyes.  And  seeing  him  at  a  distance,  in  the  shadow 
of  the  trees,  no  man  who  had  not  lost  three  comrades  before  him,  as  I  had, 
would  ever  have  guessed.  Here's  the  knife  and  tomahawk  the  villain  had  about 
him.  You  see,  once  in  the  coppice  he  had  only  to  watch  his  moment  for 
throwing  off  the  skin  and  jumping  on  me  from  behind  ;  a  dig  in  the  back 
before  a  man  had  time  to  fire  his  piece  was  easy  work  enough.  After  that 
it's  easier  still  to  drag  the  body  off  and  hide  it  under  a  heap  of  leaves.  The 
rebels  pay  these  devils  by  the  scalp,  and  no  doubt  if  your  honor  looks  about, 
you'll  find  the  collection  our  friend  here  has  already  made  to-day." 


RUNNING  THE  GAUNTLET  {p.    32  ) 


II. 


A  RUN  FROM  A  HORRIBLE  DEATH. 


John  Glover,  whom  we  will  leave  to  tell  his  story,  was  kidnapped  from  his 
home  on  the  New  River,  Virginia,  at  the  age  of  eight,  by  an  Indian  tribe 
called  the  Miamecs,  or  Picts,  and  lived  with  them  for  six  years.  He  was  then 
sold  to  a  Delaware,  and  again  transferred  to  a  trader,  of  whom  he  was 
purchased  by  the  Shawanees  With  them  he  lived  until  his  twentieth  year, 
when  on  the  treaty  of  Fort  Pitt  he  made  himself  known  to  some  friends  and 
was  induced  with  difficulty  to  give  up  his  savage  life.  It  was  nine  years  after 
this  that  the  following  adventure,  the  most  thrilling  in  his  varied  life, 
befel  him. 

"  Having  been  a  prisoner  among  the  Indians  many  years,  and  so  being  Avell 
acquainted  with  the  country  west  of  the  Ohio,  I  was  employed  as  a  guide  in 
the  expedition  under  Colonel  William  Crawford  against  the  Indian  towns  on  or 
near  the  river  Sandusky,  in  the  year  1782.  On  Tuesday,  the  4th  of  June,  wc 
fought  the  enemy  near  Sandusky,  and  lay  that  night  in  our  camp  The  next 
day  we  fired  on  each  other  at  a  distance  of  three  hundred  yards,  doing  little 
or  no  execution. 

"  In  the  evening  of  that  day  it  was  proposed  by  Colonel  Crawford,  as  I  have 
been  since  informed,  to  draw  off  with  order  ;  but  at  the  moment  of  our  retreat, 
the  Indians — who  had  probably  perceived  that  we  were  about  to  retire — firing 
alarm-guns,  our  men  broke  and  rode  off  in  confusion,  treading  down  those  who 
were  on  foot,  and  leaving  the  wounded  men,  who  supplicated  to  be  taken  with 
them.  I  was  with  some  others  in  the  rear  of  our  troops,  feeding  our  horses  in 
the  glade,  when  our  men  began  to  break.     The  main  body   of  our   people  had 


RUNNING  FROM  DEATH.  31 

passed  by  me  a  considerable  distance  before  I  was  ready  to  set  out.  I  overtook 
them  before  I  crossed  the  glade,  and  was  advanced  almost  in  front  The 
company  of  five  or  six  men  with  whom  I  had  been  immediately  connected,  and 
who  were  at  some  distance  to  the  right  of  the  main  body,  had  separated  from 
me,  and  endeavored  to  pass  a  morass.  Coming  up,  I  found  their  horses  had 
stuck  fast  in  it,  and  in  endeavoring  to  pass,  mine  also,  like  theirs,  became 
a  captive. 

"I  tried  a  long  time  to  disengage  my  horse,  until  I  could  hear  the  enemy 
just  behind  me  and  on  each  side,  but  in  vain.  Here,  then,  I  was  obliged  to 
leave  him.  The  morass  was  so  unstable  that  I  was  up  to  the  middle  in  it, 
and  it  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  I  got  across  it.  However,  at  length  I 
came  up  with  the  six  men,  who  had  left  their  horses  in  the  same  manner  as  I. 
Two  of  them  had  lost  their  guns. 

"  We  travelled  that  night,  making  our  course  towards  Detroit,  with  a  view 
to  shun  the  enemy,  whom  we  conceived  to  have  taken  the  paths  by  which  the 
main  body  of  our  people  had  retreated.  Just  before  day  we  got  into  a  second 
deep  morass,  and  were  under  the  necestity  of  stopping  until  it  w^as  light  to  see 
our  way  through  it.  The  whole  of  this  day  we  travelled  towards  the 
Shawanees'  towns,  with  a  view  of  throwing  ourselves  still  farther  out  of  the 
reach  of  the  enemy. 

"About  ten  o'clock  we  sat  down  to  eat  a  little,  having  tasted  nothing  from 
Tuesday,  the  day  of  our  engagement,  until  this  time,  which  was  on  Thursday  ; 
and  now  the  only  thing  we  had  to  eat  was  a  scrap  of  pork  for  each. 

"  We  had  sat  down  by  a  warrior's  path,  w^hich  we  had  not  suspected,  when 
eight  or  nine  Indians  appeared.  Running  off  hastily,  we  left  our  luggage  and 
provisions,  but  were  not  discovered  by  the  party  ;  for,  after  skulking  some  time 
in  the  grass  and  bushes,  we  returned  to  the  place  and  recovered  our  baggage. 
The  warriors  had  hallooed  as  they  passed,  and  were  answered  by  others  on  our 
flank. 

"  We  set  off  at  break  of  day.  About  nine  o'clock  on  the  third  day,  we  fell 
in  with  a  party  of  the  enemy,  about  138  miles  from  Fort  Pitt.  They  had  come 
upon  our  track,  or  had  been  on  our  flank  and  discovered  us  ;  and  then,  having 
got  before,  had  waylaid  us,  and  fired  before  we  perceived  them. 

"At  the  first  fire,  one  of  my  companions  fell  before  me,  and  another  just 
behind  me.  These  two  had  guns.  There  were  six  men  in  company,  and  four 
guns :  two  of  these  had  been  rendered  useless  by  the  wet  when  coming  through 
the  swamp  the  first  night  ;  we  had  tried  to  discharge  them,  but  could  not. 

"  When  the  Indians  fired,  I  ran  to  a  tree  :  but  an  Indian  presenting  himself 
fifteen  yards  before  me,  desired  me  to  deliver  myself  up,  adding  that  I  should 
not  be  hurt.  My  gun  was  in  good  order  ;  but  apprehending  the  enemy  might 
discharge  their  pieces  at  me,  I  did  not  risk  firing.  This  I  had  afterwards 
reason  to  regret,  when  I  found  what  was  to  be  my  fate,  and  that  the  Indian 
who  was  before  me  was  one  of  those  who  had  just  fired.   Two  of  my  companions 


32  RUNNING  FROM  DEATH. 

were  taken  with  me  in  the  same  manner,  the  Indians  assuring  us  we  should 
not  be  hurt.  One  of  these  Indians  knew  me,  and  was  of  the  party  by  whom 
I  was  taken  in  the  last  war.  He  came  up  and  spoke  to  me,  calling  me  by 
my  Indian  name — Mannucothee,  and  upbraiding  me  for  coming  to  war  against 
them, 

"  The  party  by  whom  we  were  made  prisoners  had  taken  some  horses,  but 
left  them  at  the  glades  we  had  passed  the  day  before.  From  these  glades  they 
had  followed  on  our  track.  On  our  return,  we  found  the  horses,  and  each  of 
us  rode.     We  were  carried  to  a  town  of  the  Mingoes  and  Shawanees. 

"  I  think  it  was  the  third  day  that  we  reached  the  town  As  we  approached 
t,  the  Indians,  in  whose  custody  we  were,  began  to  look  sour,  having  been 
kind  to  us  before,  and  having  given  us  a  little  meat  and  flour  to  eat,  which 
they  had  found  or  taken  from  some  of  our  men  on  their  retreat.  The  town 
was  small  and,  we  were  told,  stood  about  two  miles  distant  from  the  main  town, 
to  which  they  meant  to  carry  us.  The  inhabitants  of  this  town  came  out  with 
clubs  and  tomahawks,  and  struck,  beat,  and  abused  us  greatly.  One  of  my 
companions  they  seized,  and  having  stripped  him  naked,  blacked  him  with 
coal  and  water.  This  was  a  sign  that  he  must  be  burnt.  The  man  seemed  to 
surmise  it,  and  shed  tears  He  asked  me  the  meaning  of  being  blacked,  but  I 
was  forbid  by  the  enemy,  in  their  own  language,  to  tell  him  what  was  intended. 
In  English,  which  they  spoke  very  easily,  having  bee's  often  at  Fort  Pitt,  they 
assured  him  he  was  not  to  be  hurt.  I  knew  of  no  reason  for  making  him  the 
first  object  of  their  cruelty,  unless  it  were  that  he  was  the  oldest. 

"  A  warrior  must  have  gone  on  before  to  the  larger  town  to  acquaint  them 
with  our  coming  and  prepare  them  for  the  frolic  ;  for,  on  our  coming  to  it,  the 
inhabitants  came  out  with  guns,  clubs,  and  tomahawks.  We  were  told  we  had 
to  run  to  the  council-house,  about  three  hundred  yards.  The  man  that  was 
black  was  about  twenty  yards  before  us  in  running  the  gauntlet.  Him  they 
made  their  principal  object  ;  men,  women,  and  children  beating  him,  and  those 
who  had  guns  firing  loads  of  powder  on  him,  as  he  ran  naked,  putting  the 
muzzles  of  the  guns  to  his  body,  shooting,  hallooing,  and  beating  their  drums 
in  the  meantime.  The  unhappy  man  had  reached  the  door  of  the  council- 
house,  beaten  and  wounded  in  a  manner  shocking  to  the  sight  ;  for  having 
arrived  before  him,  we  had  it  in  our  power  to  view  the  spectacle.  It  was  the 
most  horrid  that  can  be  conceived.  They  had  cut  him  with  their  tomahawks, 
shot  his  body  black,  burnt  it  into  holes  with  loads  of  powder  blown  into  him  ; 
a  large  wadding  had  made  a  hole  in  his  shoulder,  from  whence  the  blood 
gushed. 

"  Agreeably  to  the  declaration  of  the  enemy  when  he  first  set  out,  he  had 
reason  to  think  himself  secure  when  he  had  reached  the  door  of  the  council- 
house.  This  seemed  to  be  his  hope  ;  for  coming  up  with  great  struggling  and 
endeavor,  he  laid  hold  on  the  door,  but  was  pulled  back  and  drawn  away  by 
them     Finding  they  intended  no  mercy  but  putting  him  to  death,  he  attempted 


RUNNING  FROM  DEATH.  33 

several  times  to  snatch  or  lay  hold  of  some  of  their  tomahawks  ;  but  being  very- 
weak  he  could  not  effect  it.  We  saw  him  borne  off,  and  they  were  a  long  time 
beating,  wounding,  pursuing,  and  killing  him.  That  same  evening  I  saw  the 
dead  body  of  the  man  close  by  the  council-house.  It  was  mangled  cruelly,  and 
the  blood  mingled  with  the  powder,  was  rendered  black.  Later,  I  saw  the 
body  cut  to  pieces,  and  his  limbs  and  head,  about  two  hundred  yards  on  the 
outside  of  the  town,  put  on  poles. 

"That  evening  also,  I  saw  the  bodies  of  three  others,  in  the  same  black 
and  mangled  condition  ;  these,  I  was  told,  had  been  put  to  death  the  same  day, 
and  just  before  we  reached  the  town.  Their  bodies  as  they  lay  were  black, 
bloody,  and  burnt  with  powder.  Two  of  these  were  Harrison  and  young 
Crawford.  I  knew  the  visage  of  Colonel  Harrison,  and  I  saw  his  clothing  and 
that  of  young  Crawford  at  the  town.  They  brought  horses  to  me,  and  asked 
me  if  I  ^knew  them.  I  said  they  were  Harrison's  and  Crawford's.  They  said 
they  were.  The  third  of  these  men  I  did  not  know,  but  believe  to  have  been 
Colonel  M'Clelland,  the  third  in  command  on  the  expedition. 

"  The  next  day,  the  bodies  of  these  men  were  dragged  to  the  outside  of  the 
town,  and  their  carcases  being  given  to  the  dogs,  their  limbs  and  heads  were 
stuck'on  poles.  My  surviving^  companion,  shortly  after  we  had  reached  the 
council-house,  was  sent  to  another  town,  and  I  presume  he  was  burnt  and 
executed  in  the  same  manner. 

"In  the  evening  the  men  assembled  in  the  council-house.  This  is  a  large 
building  about  fifty  yards  in  length,  and  about  twenty-five  yards  wide.  Its 
height  was  about  sixteen  feet,  the  whole  building  being  constructed  of  split 
poles  covered  with  bark.  Their  first  object  was  to  examine  me,  which  they 
could  do  in  their  own  language,  inasmuch  as  I  could  speak  the  Miamee, 
Shawanee,  and  Delaware  tongues,  which  I  had  learned  during  my  early  cap- 
tivity in  the  last  war.  I  found  I  had  not  forgotten  these  tongues,  especially  the 
two  former,  being  able  to  speak  them  as  well  as  my  native  language. 

"  They  began  by  interrogating  me  concerning  the  situation  of  our  country  ; 
what  were  our  provisions  ;  our  numbers  ;  the  state  of  the  war  between  us  and 
Britain.  I  informed  them  that  Cornwallis  had  been  taken,  which  next  day, 
when  Matthew  Elliot,  with  James  Girty,  came,  he  affirmed  to  be  a  lie,  and  the 
Indians  seemed  to  give  full  credit  to  his  declaration.  Hitherto  I  had  been 
treated  with  some  appearance  of  kindness,  but  now  the  enemy  began  to  alter 
their  behavior  towards  me.  However,  I  was  not  tied,  and  could  have  escaped  ; 
but  having  nothing  to  put  on  my  feet,  I  waited  some  time  to  provide  for  this. 
In  the  meantime,  I  was  invited  to  the  war-dances,  which  they  usually  con- 
tinued till  almost  day  ;  but  I  could  not  comply  with  their  desire,  believing  these 
things  to  be  the  service  of  the  devil. 

"The  council  lasted  fifteen  days,  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  warriors  being 
usually  in  council,  and  sometimes  more.  Every  warrior  is  admitted  to  these 
councils,  but  only  the  chiefs,  or  head  warriors,  have  the  privilege  of  speaking. 


'I    STEPPED    OVER  THE  WARRIORS  AS   THEY    I,AY."    (p.  36-) 


RUNNING   FROM  DEATH.  35 

The  head  warriors  are  accounted  as  such  from  the  number  of  scalps  they  have 
taken.  There  was  one  council  at  which  I  was  not  present.  The  warriors  had 
sent  for  me  as  usual,  but  the  squaw  with  whom  I  lived  would  not  suffer  me  to 
go,  but  hid  me  under  a  large  quantity  of  skins.  It  may  have  been  from  an 
unwillingness  that  I  should  hear  in  council  the  determination  respecting  my- 
self, that  I  should  be  burnt. 

"About  this  time,  twelve  men  were  brought  in  from  Kentucky,  three  of 
whom  were  burnt  on  this  day,  the  remainder  distributed  to  other  towns,  and 
all,  as  the  Indians  informed  me,  were  burnt.  On  this  day  also  I  saw  an  Indian 
who  had  just  come  into  town,  and  he  said  that  the  prisoner  he  was  bringing  to 
be  burnt,  and  who  was  a  doctor,  had  made  his  escape  from  him.  I  knew  this 
must  have  been  Dr.  Knight,  who  went  out  as  surgeon  to  the  expedition.  The 
Indian  had  a  wound  four  inches  long  in  his  head  that  the  doctor  had  given  him. 
He  was  cut  to  the  skull. 

"  At  this  time  I  was  told  that  Colonel  Crawford  was  burnt,  and  they  greatly 
exulted  over  it.  The  day  after  the  council  I  have  mentioned,  about  forty 
warriors,  accompanied  by  George  Girty,  came  early  in  the  morning  round  the 
house  where  I  was.  The  squaw  gave  me  up.  I  was  sitting  before  the  door  of 
the  house  ;  they  put  a  rope  round  my  neck,  tied  my  arms  behind,  stripped  me 
naked,  and  then  blackened  me  in  the  usual  manner.  George  Girty,  as  soon  as 
I  was  tied,  cursed  me,  saying  that  now  I  should  get  what  I  had  deserved  many 
years.  I  was  led  away  to  a  town  distant  about  five  miles,  to  which  a  messenger 
had  been  despatched,  to  desire  them  to  prepare  to  receive  me.  Arriving  at 
this  town  I  was  beaten  with  clubs  and  the  pipe  ends  of  their  tomahawks,  and 
was  kept  some  time  tied  to  a  tree  before  a  house-door.  In  the  meanwhile,  the 
inhabitants  set  out  to  another  town  about  two  miles  distant,  where  I  was  to  be 
burnt,  and  where  I  arrived  about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 

"  Here  was  also  a  council-house,  part  of  it  covered,  and  part  of  it  with- 
out roof.  In  the  part  of  it  where  no  cover  was,  but  only  sides  built  up,  there 
stood  a  post  about  sixteen  feet  in  height,  and  in  the  middle  of  the  house, 
around  the  post,  there  were  three  piles  of  wood  built  about  three  feet  from 
the  post. 

"  Being  brought  to  the  post,  I  had  my  arms  tied  behind  me  anew,  and  the 
thong  or  cord  with  which  they  were  bound  was  fastened  to  the  post.  A  fresh 
rope  was  put  about  my  neck  and  also  tied  to  the  post  about  four  feet  above  my 
head  During  the  time  they  were  tying  me,  the  piles  were  kindled  and  began 
to  flame.  Death  by  burning,  which  now  appeared  to  be  my  certain  fate,  I  had 
resolved  to  sustain  with  patience.  The  grace  of  God  had  made  it  less  alarming 
to  me  ;  for  on  my  way  this  day,  I  had  been  greatly  exercised  in  regard  to  my 
latter  end. 

"  I  was  tied  to  the  post  as  I  have  already  said,  and  the  flame  was  now 
kindled.  The  day  was  clear,  and  not  a  cloud  to  be  seen  :  if  there  were  clouds 
low  in  the  horizon,  the  sides  of   the   house  prevented  me   from  seeing  them, 


36  KUNNING  FROM   DEATH. 

but  I  heard  no  thunder,  nor  observed  any  sign  of  approaching  rain.  Just  as 
the  fire  of  one  pile  began  to  blaze,  the  wind  rose.  From  the  time  when  they 
began  to  kindle  the  fire  and  to  tie  me  to  the  post,  until  the  wind  began  to  blow, 
about  fifteen  minutes  had  elapsed.  The  wind  blew  a  hurricane,  and  the  rain 
followed  in  less  than  three  minutes.  The  rain  fell  violently,  and  the  fire, 
though  it  began  to  blaze  considerably,  was  instantly  extinguished.  The  rain 
lasted  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour. 

"  When  the  storm  was  over,  the  savages  stood  amazed,  and  were  a  long  time 
silent.  At  last  one  said,  "  We  will  let  him  alone  till  morning,  and  take  a  whole 
day's  frolic  in  burning  him."  The  sun  at  this  time  was  about  three  hours  high. 
The  rope  about  my  neck  was  now  untied,  and,  making  me  sit  down,  they  began 
to  dance  around  me.  They  continued  dancing  in  this  manner  until  eleven 
o'clock  at  night,  in  the  meantime  beating,  kicking,  and  wounding  me  with  their 
tomahawks  and  clubs. 

"At  last  one  of  the  warriors  asked  me  if  I  was  sleepy  ;  I  answered  'Yes' 
The  warrior  then  chose  out  three  men  to  take  care  of  me.  I  was  taken  to  a 
block-house  :  my  arms  were  tied,  round  my  wrist,  and  above  my  elbows,  so 
tightly  that  the  cord  was  hid  in  the  flesh.  A  rope  was  fastened  about  my  neck 
and  tied  to  the  beam  of  the  house,  but  permitting  me  to  lie  down  on  a  board. 
The  three  warriors  were  constantly  harassing  and  troubling  me,  saying,  '  How 
will  you  like  to  eat  fire  to-morrow  ?  You  kill  no  more  Indians  now.' 

"I  was  in  expectation  of  their  going  to  sleep.  When,  at  length,  an  hour 
before  daybreak,  two  of  them  lay  down,  the  third  smoked  a  pipe,  talked  to  me, 
and  asked  the  same  painful  questions  About  half  an  hour  after,  he  also  lay 
down,  and  I  heard  him  begin  to  snore. 

"  Instantly  I  went  to  work  ;  and  as  my  hands  were  perfectly  dead  with 
the  cord,  I  laid  myself  down  upon  my  right  arm,  and,  keeping  it  fast  with  my 
fingers,  I  stripped  the  cord  from  my  left  arm  over  ray  elbow  and  wrist. 

"  One  of  the  warriors  now  got  up  and  stirred  the  fire.  I  was  apprehensive 
that  I  should  be  examined,  and  thought  it  was  over  with  me  But  my  hopes 
revived  when  he  lay  down  again.  I  then  attempted  to  unloose  the  rope  about 
my  neck,  and  tried  to  gnaw  it,  but  in  vain,  as  it  was  as  thick  as  my  thumb 
and  as  hard  as  iron,  being  made  of  buffalo-hide  I  wrought  with  it  a  long  time 
but  finally  gave  it  up,  and  could  see  no  relief. 

"  At  this  time  I  saw  daybreak.  I  made  a  second  attempt,  almost  without 
hope,  pulling  the  rope  by  putting  my  fingers  between  my  neck  and  it,  and  to 
my  great  surprise  it  came  easily  untied.  It  was  a  noose  with  two  or  three 
knots  tied  over  it. 

"  I  stepped  over  the  warriors  as  they  lay,  and  having  got  out  of  the  house, 
looked  back  to  see  if  there  was  any  disturbance.  I  then  ran  through  the  town 
into  a  cornfield.  In  my  way  I  saw  a  squaw  with  four  or  five  children  lying 
asleep  under  a  tree.  Going  a  different  way  into  a  field  I  noticed  my  arm,  which 
was  greatly  swelled  and  burnt  black.     Having  observed  a  number  of  horses  in 


RUNNING  FROM  DEATH.  37 

the  glade  as  I  ran  through  it,  I  went  back  to  catch  one,  and  on  my  way  found 
a  piece  of  an  old  rug  or  quilt  hanging  on  a  fence.     This  I  took  with  me. 

*'  Having  caught  the  horse,  the  rope  with  which  I  had  been  tied  serving  for 
a  halter,  I  rode  off.  The  horse  was  strong  and  swift  ;  and  the  woods  being 
open  and  the  country  level,  about  ten  o'clock  that  day  I  crossed  the  Sciota 
river  at  a  place  about  fifty  miles  from  the  town.  I  had  ridden  about  twenty 
miles  on  this  side  Sciota  by  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  the  horse 
began  to  fail  and  could  no  longer  go  on  a  trot.  I  instantly  left  him  and  ran 
on  foot  about  twenty  miles  further  that  day,  making  in  the  whole  the  distance 
of  near  one  hundred  miles.  In  the  evening  I  heard  hallooing  behind  me, 
and  for  this  reason  did  not  halt  till  about  ten  o'clock  at  night,  when  I  sat  down, 
was  extremely  sick,  and  vomited.  But  when  the  moon  rose,  which  might  have 
been  about  two  hours  after,  I  then  went  on  my  way,  and  travelled  till  dayh^ht. 

"During  the  night  I  had  a  path,  but  in  the  morning  I  judged  it  prucent 
to  forsake  the  path  and  to  take  a  ridge  for  the  distance  of  fifteen  miles,  in  a 
line  at  right  angles  to  my  course,  putting  back  with  a  stick  as  I  went  along 
the  weeds  which  I  had  bent,  lest  I  should  be  tracked  by  the  enemy.  I  lay 
the  next  night  on  the  waters  of  the  Muskingum.  The  nettles  had  been  trouble- 
some to  me  after  my  crossing  the  Sciota,  as  I  had  nothing  to  defend  myself 
but  the  piece  of  rug  which  I  had  found,  and  which  while  I  rode  I  used 
under  me  by  way  of  a  saddle  The  briars  and  thorns  were  now  painful  too, 
and  prevented  me  from  travelling  in  the  night  until  the  moon  appeared.  In 
the  meantime,  I  was  hindered  Irom  sleeping  by  the  mosquitoes  :  even  in  the 
day  I  was  under  the  necessity  of  travelling  with  a  handful  of  bushes  to  brush 
them  from  my  body. 

"The  second  night  I  reached  Cushakim.  Next  day  I  came  to  Newcomer's 
Town,  where  I  got  about  seven  raspberries,  which  were  the  first  thing  I  ate 
from  the  morning  in  which  the  Indians  had  taken  me  to  burn  until  this  time, 
which  was  now  about  three  o'clock  on  the  fourth  day.  I  felt  hunger  very 
little,  but  was  extremely  weak.  I  swam  Muskingum  river  at  Old  Cromer's 
Town,  the  river  being  about  two  miles  wide.  Having  reached  the  bank  I  sat 
down,  and,  looking  back,  thought  I  had  a  good  start  of  the  Indians,  should 
any  pursue. 

"  That  evening  I  travelled  about  five  miles,  and  the  next  day  came  to  Still- 
water, a  small  river,  in  a  branch  of  which  I  got  two  small  cray-fish  to  eat. 
Next  night  I  lay  down  within  five  miles  of  Wheeling,  but  had  not  a  wink 
during  the  whole  time,  it  being  rendered  impossible  by  the  mosquitoes,  which 
it  was  my  constant  employment  to  brush  away.  Next  day  I  came  to  Wheel- 
ing, and  saw  a  man  on  the  island  in  the  Ohio,  opposite  to  that  post,  and,  call- 
ing to  him,  inquired  for  particular  persons  who  had  been  in  the  expedition,  and 
told  him  I  was  Glover.  At  length,  with  great  diffieulty,  he  was  persuaded  to 
come  over  and  bring  me  across  in  his  canoe.     Then  was  I  safe." 


'■.^yy  ■  '*-7  ^^  ^  ^      X 


^^-' 


'.    ,  ^^'i-f^  ■<■,  


VENICK   FROM   THE   RIVA   DEGLI   SCHIAVONI. 
o,  Ducal  Palace ;  6,  State  Prison. 

THE  PRISON-BREAKER. 

Venice,  1755 

ASANOVA,  or,  as  he  preferred  to  style  himself  in  full,  John  James 
Casanova  de  Seingalt,  student  of  the  University  of  Padua,  citizen 
of  Venice,  wit,  gambler,  libertine,  scholar,  unbeliever,  and  fop, 
was  sleeping  soundly  in  the  early  morning  of  July  25th,  1755, 
when  a  hand  was  laid  on  his  shoulder,  and  he  awoke  to  find  the  chief  of  the 
Venetian  police  standing  at  his  bedside. 

'•  To  what  am  I  indebted  for  this  honour  ? "  he  asked,  sitting  up  and  rubbing 
his  eyes. 

"  To  the  fact,"  answered  the  officer,  "  that  you  are  arrested  by  order  of  the 
Tribunal  of  State  Inquisitors.  You  will  therefore  immediately  dress  and  follow 
me,  in  the  mean  time  handing  over  your  keys  and  putting  me  in  possession  of 
your  books  and  papers." 

"Certainly,"  said  Casanova       "I  regret  that    my   dressing  usually  takes    a 

considerable  time,  but  if  you  do  not  mind  waiting " 

The  officer  bowed.  *'  My  time  is  yours,"  he  said,  "  if  only  you  are  reason- 
ably quick." 

Casanova  called  his  valet,  had  his  hair  carefully  dressed,  and  put  on  a    silken 


THE  PRISON-BREAKER.  39 

suit,  as  though  bound  for  a  ball  rather  than  a  prison.  In  the  meanwhile,  the 
officer  rummaged  about  the  room,  collected  books — including  many  volumes  of 
the  cabalistic  writers — manuscripts,  love-letters,  and  papers  scribbled  with  verse, 
while  his  involuntary  host  from  time  to  time  regarded  his  assiduity  with  a 
gentle  smile  and  inquired  how  he  proceeded. 

"  I  am  quite  ready  now,"  said  Casanova,  at  the  end  of  an  hour. 

The  police  officer  contemplated  him  grimly,  and  said,  "  I  should  have  advised 
a  more  serviceable  suit  of  clothes.     But  since  you  are  ready,  come." 

They  quitted  the  chamber  together.  Outside  his  door,  Casanova  was  as- 
tonished to  find  no  less  than  thirty  policemen  in  waiting  for  him. 

"  You  march  at  the  head  of  an  army,"  he  observed. 

The  officer  dismissed  all  but  four  of  his  attendants,  who  stepped  with 
Casanova  into  a  gondolo  that  lay  waiting,  and  proceeded  with  their  prisoner  to 
the  chiefs  house.  Here  Casanova  was  kept  four  hours  under  lock  and  key.  At 
the  end  of  this  time  the  key  turned,  and  the  police  officer  again  entered 
the  room. 

"Where  next.? 

"  To  the  Camerotti." 

Casanova  knew  the  Camerotti  well  enough  by  reputation.  They  were  cells 
in  the  State  Prison  that  faces  the  Ducal  Palace  and  is  connected  with  it 
by  the  Bridge  of  Sighs,  that  covered  way  over  a  narrow  canal  that  has  been 
more  painted  and  sung  and  written  about,  probably,  than  any  other  building 
on  earth.  The  cells  in  question  were  also  known  by  the  name  of  /  Ploinbi, 
from  their  position  immediately  under  leaden  roof  of  the  prison  ;  and  their 
suffocating  heat  in  summer-time  was  a  by-word. 

Casanova  was  led  across  the  Bridge  of  Sighs,  and  presented,  at  the  prison 
door,  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Inquisition,  who  looked  at  him  casually  for  a 
moment,  and  said — 

"It  is  he.     Secure  him  carefully." 

Without  more  to-do,  the  prisoner  was  marched  upstairs,  and  found  himself 
at  length  in  a  squalid  garret,  about  six  yards  long  by  two  in  breadth,  and 
lighted  only  through  a  skylight.  "  Surely,"  thought  Casanova  to  himself,  "  they 
do  not  intend  to  confine  a  man  of  my  quality  in  such  a  den  as  this  "  They 
did  not  ;  he  was  not  to  get  off  so  leniently.  While  he  was  looking  about,  the 
goaler  applied  a  large  key  to  a  small  door  in  the  wall,  massively  bound  with 
iron,  and  having  a  grating  some  eight  inches  square  in  its  centre. 

"  What  is  that  .**"  asked  Casanova,  as  the  man  was  fumbling  with  the  lock. 
The  fellow  turned,  and  seeing  Casanova's  gaze  fastened  on  the  one  piece  of 
furniture  in  the  garret,  laughed  as  at  an  excellent  joke  and  explained — 

"  That  ?  Well,  it's  a  machine.  I  advise  you  to  be  content  and  pray  that 
you  make  no  nearer  acquaintance  with  it,  signor." 

"A  machine  of  torture,  then.''" 

"  More  strictly,  of  death.  It  garottes — strangles,  you  understand — those  whose 


40  THE  PRISON-BREAKER. 

souls,  in  their  wisdom,  the    Inquisitors    determine    must   be    saved   by   harsher 
measures  only.     But  come,  here  is  your  room." 

The  small  door  in  the  wall  was  flung  open,  and  Casanova  passed  through. 
To  do  so  he  was  forced  to  bend  double,  for  the  entrance  was  but  three  feet 
and  a  half  in  height.  He  was  looking  about  when  he  heard  the  door  slammed 
behind  him.  His  gaoler  had  left  him.  A  voice  through  the  grating  asked  what 
he  would  have  to  eat.  Casanova  was  beginning  to  lose  his  appetite,  and  had 
lost  his  temper  some  time  ago,  so  he  answered  sullenly  that  he  had  not  yet 
.thought  about  what  he  would  have.  The  question  was  not  repeated.  He  was 
left  to  himself,  listening  to  the  footsteps  as  they  died  away  in  the  distance, 
and  the  sound  of  door  after  door  as  the  gaoler  locked  them  between  him  and 
liberty. 

But  the  prisoner  was  not  a  man  to  be  easily  overwhelmed,  and  so  in  a  few 
moments  he  recovered,  and  began  to  examine  his  cell.  It  was  so  low  that  he 
was  forced  to  stoop  as  he  groped  about.  There  was  neither  bed,  table,  nor 
chair  :  nothing  but  a  shelf,  on  which  he  laid  his  plumed  hat  and  rich  mantle. 
As  for  light,  there  was  little  or  none,  for  the  tiny  aperture  in  the  roof  through 
which  it  should  have  come  was  crossed  with  bars  of  thick  iron,  and  darkened 
by  a  heavy  beam,  to  boot. 

The  heat  was  insupportable.  It  drove  him  to  the  grating  for  a  breath  of 
air  He  peered  through,  and  saw  in  the  garret  beyond  whole  droves  of 
rats  "  as  large  as  rabbits,"  with  twinkling  eyes,  running  to  and  fro  and  even 
coming  quite  close  to  the  door.  He  shuddered  :  rats  were  his  special  aversion, 
and  apparently  they  were  to  be  his  only  companions.  Hour  after  hour  dragged 
away,  as  he  leant  there  panting  for  air,  and  no  one  came  near  him  He  grew 
hungry,  and  soon,  as  the  full  horror  of  his  plight  broke  on  him,  burst  into  a 
frenzy.  He  howled,  cursed,  and  flung  himself  against  the  door,  beating  it  with 
his  fists.  He  prayed  and  screamed  to  be  taken  before  his  accusers.  It  was  no 
good.  He  only  frightened  the  rats,  and  so,  as  night  drew  on,  he  bound  a 
handkerchief  round  his  head  and  flinging  himself  on  the  floor,  dropped  asleep. 

He  had  slept  for  three  hours  when  the  tolling  of  the  midnight  bell  awoke  him. 
He  stretched  out  for  his  handkerchief,  and  then  sat  upright  with  a  shudder.  His 
hand  had  encountered  another,  stiff,  and  cold  as  ice. 

For  a  moment  or  two  fear  held  him  like  palsy.  He  could  not  move, 
could  hardly  even  think  :  then,  with  trembling,  he  put  out  his  hand  again 
Still  the  frozen  fingers  were  there.  Could  they  have  put  a  corpse  beside  him 
while  he  slept .-'  A  third  time  he  felt,  and  this  time,  moving  his  left  arm,  he 
discovered  that  he  had  been  touching  his  own  hand,  which  had  grown  stiff  and 
cold  by  his  having  lain  on  it  in  his  sleep.  But  Casanova  could  not  see  the 
laughable  side  of  his  discovery.  It  rather  seemed  to  him  that  his  mind  was 
giving  way,  that  truth  was  becoming  a  dream  to  him,  and  these  illusions  were 
to  torment  the  rest  of  his  life  until  he  should  go  raving  mad. 

Daylight,  such  as  it  was,    brought   more    courage.     He   would    certainly   be 


THE  PRISON-BREAKER.  41 

liberated  presently,  or  at  least  brought  to  trial  And  the  morning  was  not  far 
spent  when  the  goaler  appeared  and  asked  him  if  he  had  yet  had  time  enough 
to  decide  upon  what  to  eat.  Casanova  Ordered  a  liberal  supply  of  food.  "  You 
had  better  order  a  bed  and  some  furniture,"  said  the  man,  "  while  you  are 
about  it.  For  if  you  fancy  you  will  be  here  only  one  night,  you  are  vastly 
mistaken  " 

He  handed  a  pencil  and  paper  to  the  prisoner  who  gave  him  a  list  of  what 
he  wanted  "  Read  it  over  to  me,"  said  the  goaler.  Casanova  did  so.  "  Books, 
ink,  paper,  razors,  and  looking-glass  !  You'll  have  none  of  these.  They  are 
against  orders.  And  as  for  the  rest,  you'll  have  to  pay  for  them.  Casanova 
found  three  sequins  in  his  pocket  and  gave  them  over.     The  gaoler  retired. 

At  noon  the  food  and  furniture  came.  He  was  then  informed  that  the 
Secretary  would  send  him  books  more  fitting  than  those  mentioned  on  the  list. 
"  Convey  my  thanks  to  the  Secretary,"  said  Casanova,  "  for  this  and  also  for 
havmg  given  me  a  room  to  myself:  for  I  detest  low  company."  The  keeper 
laughed.  "  You'll  be  glad  enough  of  the  lowest  company  before  long,"  he  said, 
as  he  went  away. 

Casanova  pulled  his  table  over  to  the  grating  for  the  sake  of  the  gleam  of 
light  that  filtered  in  from  the  garret,  and'sat  down  to  his  meal.  To  eat  it,  he 
had  but  an  ivory  spoon.  But  he  found  he  had  a  little  appetite,  and  could  not 
manage  more  than  a  mouthful  of  soup.  He  went  back  to  his  armchair  and 
passed  the  time  waiting  feverishly  for  the  promised  books.  They  did  not  come. 
The  day  wore  to  night,  and  again  he  slept  but  little.  Out  in  the  garret  the 
rats  were  scampering  ceaselessly,  and  the  huge  clock  in  St.  Mark's  Tower,  close 
by,  kept  him  awake  with  its  vibrating  noise.  In  addition  he  was  tortured  with 
the  fleas,  which  almost  gave  him  convulsions.  Again  the  gaoler  appeared  in  the 
early  morning  with  breakfast,  ordered  the  cell  to  be  swept  out,  and  produced 
two  large  volumes  which  the  Secretary  had  sent.  Casanova  examined  them 
eagerly.  One  was  entitled  "The  Mystic  City  of  God  :  by  Maria  of  Jesus,  called 
Agreda  ;  "  the  other  was  a  work  written  by  a  Jesuit,  and  designed  to  teach  a 
peculiar  veneration  for  the  heart  of  the  Saviour.  Casanova,  whose  taste  for 
theology  was  of  the  faintest,  tried  for  a  whole  week  to  read  the  former  of  these 
two  volumes,  and  then  abandoned  it  for  fear  that  his  mind  would  give  way.  It 
was  the  wild  rhapsody  of  a  young  woman  whose  brain  had  evidently  been  turned 
by  ascetism  and  the  seeing  of  visions,  and  "  such  a  work,"  says  Casanova,  "can 
upset  a  man's  reason  if,  as  I  was,  he  be  shut  up  in  the  Carmerotti  and  depressed 
by  melancholy  and  bad  food." 

In  nine  days  his  store  of  money  was  exhausted  ;  and  when  the  gaoler,  Lorenzo. 
asked  to  whom  he  should  apply  for  more,  he  was  answered  "To  nobody." 
Lorenzo,  who  made  a  small  fortune  out  of  the  prisoners  in  his  care,  went  away 
greatly  depressed,  but  returned  the  next  morning  to  announce  that  the 
Tribunal  would  allow  fifteen  shillings  a  week  for  Casanova's  maintenance.  This 
fifteen  shillings  he  proposed  to  lay  out  to  the  best   advantage  for  the    prisoner, 


4* 


THE  PRISON-BREAKER. 


keep  an  account,  and  return  the  balance,  if  any,  at  the  end  of  a  week.  Casanova 
assented.  The  allowance  was  ample  enough,  for  the  unhappy  man  had  lost  all 
his  appetite.  The  heat  of  the  dog-days  beating  on  the  leaden  roof  above  made 
his  cell  a  fiery  furnace.  All  day  he  sat  naked  with  perspiration  streaming 
from  him  ;  next  he  caught  the  fever  and  kept  to  his  bed.  Lorenzo,  afraid  ot 
losing  a  prisoner  who  paid  him  well,  went  at  the  end  of  three  days  for  a 
doctor.  "You  will  be  amazed,"  he  told  Casanova,  "  at  the  generosity  of  the 
Tribunal.     Why,  you  are    to 

have  a    doctor  and   medicines         T"  n   •  .■  s  .n<*  ^--^ :Si^Wll:tMYff^ 

without   its     costing     you     a 


penny 


I 


The  doctor  came,  but  Casa- 
nova stoutly  swore  that  as  long 
as  Lorenzo  remained  in  the 
cell  he  would  not  open  his 
lips.  "  I  will  have  no  wit- 
nesses," he  said.  The  gaoler, 
angry  at  first,  was  at  length 
induced  to  retire.  Said  the 
physician,  "If  you  wish  to  re- 
cover you  must  banish  your 
melancholy."  "Very  well," 
was  the  reply.  "  Quick  ; 
write  a  prescription,  and  take 
it  to  the  only  apothecary  who 
can  prepare  the  dose  !  Signor 
Cavalli,  Secretary  to  the 
Tribunal,  is  the  fatal  doctor, 
who  brought  me  to  this  by 
prescribing  'The  Heart  of 
Jesus  '  and  '  The  Mystic  City.  " 

The  doctor  lent  his  patient 

, ,  T-.         ,  1   •         »  i  J  J  J  PRESENTED    lO    THE  SECRETARY  ( /  30  ) 

"Bocthms    to  read,  and  made  ^^  ^^  ' 

the  Secretary  promise  some  healthier   books,   and    Casanova's    health    rapidly 

improved. 

Another  favour  was  granted  him  about  this  time — he  was  allowed  to  walk 
in  the  garret  whilst  his  cell  was  being  cleaned.  It  was  for  eight  or  ten  minutes 
only,  but  he  enjoyed  it,  and  took  care  to  reward  the  gaoler,  in  hopes  of  inducing 
him  to  confer  more  favours.  When  Lorenzo,  on  the  day  this  permission  was 
granted,  came  to  settle  the  accounts,  there  remained  a  balance  of  some  of  five- 
and-twenty  shillings.  Casanova  gave  it  to  him,  telling  him  to  get  some  masses 
for  it.  "  He  thanked  me  as  if  he  were  the  priest  who  was  to  say  them.  Every 
month  I  repeated  the  gift,  but  never  saw  the  receipt  from  any  priest." 


THE  PRISON-BREAKER  43 

The  prisoner  still  cheated  himself  with  hopes  that  the  day  of  his  liberation 
was  at  hand,  but  these  hopes  slowly  resolved  themselves  into  despair.  For 
some  time  he  calculated  that  October  ist  would  he  his  day  of  freedom,  as  on 
that  day  a  new  set  of  State  Inquisitors  came  into  office  When  it  passed  and 
brought  no  change  to  his  wretched  life,  for  a  whole  week  he  raved  about  his 
cell.  A  month  after — on  the  1st  of  November — he  was  gazing  up  at  the  heavy 
beam  that  crossed  the  skylight,  when  he  suddenly  saw  the  timber  bend  and 
shake.  At  the  same  time  a  tremor  ran  through  the  building,  and  he  himself 
lost  his  balance  and  fell  on  the  floor.  He  knew  the  shock — it  was  an  earth- 
quake. In  a  few  moments  it  was  repeated.  Regardless  of  his  own  danger,  he 
prayed  aloud,     "Another  !  another,  great  God  !  but  stronger  !  " 

It  was  the  same  earthquake  that  shook  Lisbon  in  ruins  But  it  brought  no 
relief  to  Casanova.  He  had  made  up  his  mind  by  this  time  that  his  imprison- 
ment was  to  last  for  life,  and  now  bent  all  his  mind  on  devising  some  means 
of  escape  For  some  time  the  monotony  of  his  life  was  varied  by  his  having  a 
companion  in  misery.  The  new-comer  was  a  youth  named  Maggiorino,  who  had 
been  servant  in  the  household  of  a  count,  and  was  sent  to  prison  because  he 
had  fallen  in  love  with  the  count's  daughter.  Casanova  lent  him  his  mattress 
for  the  first  night,  and  in  the  morning  Lorenzo  came  and  announced  that  a 
small  sum  had  been  granted  for  the  new  prisoner's  support.  Casanova  told  him 
to  keep  the  money,  adding  that  he  himself  would  share  provisions  with 
Maggiorino.  Overcome  with  with  this  generosity,  Lorenzo  granted  the  donor 
leave  to  walk  for  an  hour  every  day  in  the  corridor  of  the  prison. 

Maggiorino  soon  left  Casanova  alone  again.  The  poor  youth,  who  was  madly 
in  love,  was  transported  to  another  part  of  the  prison,  to  a  windowless  dungeon 
where  an  oil-lamp  supplied  all  the  light  that  was  to  be  had.  Here  he  remained 
five  years,  and  was  then  banished  for  ten  more. 

In  a  few  days,  however,  Casanova  had  another  companion.  This  time  it  was 
a  shabby,  stooping,  cadaverous  creature,  of  about  fifty,  with  a  peculiarly  malig- 
nant face.  On  the  first  day  the  stranger  fed  at  Casanova's  expense  ;  on  the 
second,  when  Lorenzo  asked  him  for  money,  he  declared  he  had  not  a  shilling. 
"Oh,  very  well,"  said  the  gaoler,  "you  shall  have  a  pound  and  a  half  of  ship's 
biscuit,  then,  and  some  very  good  water."  After  the  gaoler  had  gone,  Casanovo 
said,  "  It  was  imprudent  of  you  to  bring  no  money,"  "  I  have  plenty  of  money, 
but  there's  no  need  to  let  these  harpies  know  it."  He  was  an  usurer  who  had 
been  entrusted  with  a  large  sum  by  a  certain  nobleman,  and  had  attempted  to 
deny  the  deposit.  The  matter  had  come  to  a  trial,  with  the  result  that  the 
usurer  was  cast,  and  was  to  be  held  in  prison  until  he  had  made  restitution 
and  paid  the  costs.  After  spending  four  days  in  prison  he  was  sent  for  by  the 
Secretary,  and  in  his  haste  slipped  on  Casanova's  shoes  instead  of  his  own.  In 
half  an  hour's  time  he  returned,  looking  extremely  downcast,  took  two  heavy 
purses  out  of  his  own  shoes,  and  returned.  Casanova  saw  him  no  more; 
apparently  the  Secretary  had  been  too  much  for  the  usurer. 


44  THE  PRISON-BREAKER. 

On  the  1st  of  January,  1756,  Casanova  received  from  a  former  patron,  one 
Bragadino,  a  New  Year's  gift  of  a  beautiful  dressing-gown  lined  with  fox-fur,  a 
silken  coverlet  quilted  with  wool,  and  a  bearskin  bag  to  put  his  feet  in.  For 
his  cell  in  winter  was  as  cold  as  in  summer  it  was  stifling.  The  patron  added 
an  allowance  of  six  sequins  a  month  to  enable  Casanova  to  purchase  books  and 
papers.  So  overcome  was  the  unhappy  prisoner  with  this  news  that,  as  he  says, 
"  in  the  fulness  of  my  heart  I  pardoned  my  oppressors;  indeed,  I  was  very 
nearly  led  to  abandon  all  thoughts  of  escaping,  so  pliant  is  man  after  suffering 
has  bent  and  abased  him." 

It  may  easily  be  imagined,  however,  that  with  Casanova  this  feeling  soon 
passed.  He  now  bent  his  thoughts  earnestly  on  escaping  By  leading  his  gaoler 
to  converse,  he  discovered  some  details  in  the  construction  of  the  prison  that 
he  afterwards  turned  to  account.  But  his  main  hope  lay  in  the  daily  walk  of 
half  an  hour  now  allowed  him  in  the  corridor.  In  his  walks  he  had  discovered 
two  old  chests  lying  in  a  corner,  together  with  a  heap  of  lumber.  One  of  these 
chests  was  locked.  The  other  he  found  to  contain  feathers,  paper  and  string, 
and  a  slab  of  what  at  first  he  thought  to  be  black  marble.  It  was  a  smooth 
piece  of  stone  about  six  inches  long,  three  inches  wide,  and  an  inch  thick. 
Almost  without  considering  what  use  might  be  made  of  this,  he  slipped  it  into 
his  pocket,  and,  on  returning  to  his  cell,  hid  it  beneath  his  shirts. 

Some  time  after,  when  walking,  he  found  his  attention  caught  by  an  iron 
bolt,  as  thick  as  his  thumb,  lying  amid  the  lumber.  It  struck  him  that  this 
might  be  converted  into  a  weapon  of  some  kind.  This  also  he  concealed  in  his 
cell  ;  and  on  discovering  the  supposed  slab  of  marble,  found  to  his  joy  that  it 
was  a  whetstone. 

Still  without  definite  aim  in  what  he  did,  and  partly  to  beguile  his  dul- 
ness,  Casanova  now  set  to  work  to  point  the  bolt.  It  was  weary  work,  but 
he  toiled  for  two  weeks,  moistening  the  whetstone  with  his  spittle,  and  rubbing 
until  his  left  hand  became  one  large  blister.  At  the  end  of  this  time,  however, 
he  had  turned  his  bolt  into  an  excellent  stiletto,  and  felt  that  something  was 
done,  at  any  rate.  He  hid  the  weapon  in  the  straw  of  his  arm-chair,  and  set 
to  work  to  think  on  his  next  step. 

For  five  days  he  considered,  and  then  decided  that  his  one  chance  was  to 
break  through  the  floor  of  his  cell  The  State  cells — one  of  which  he  occupied 
— were  in  the  roof  and  covered  with  heavy  leaden  plates.  Casanova's,  with  two 
others,  was  on  the  western  side  of  the  prison.  The  sole  exit  was  through  the 
prison  gate,  the  Bridge  of  Sighs,  and  the  Ducal  Palace,  and  the  key  was  kept 
by  the  Secretary,  to  whom  it  was  handed  by  the  gaoler  when  his  daily  attendance 
on  the  prisoners  was  over. 

Casanova  had  found  out  from  Lorenzo  that  the  Secretary's  room  was  under- 
neath his  cell,  and  also  that  it  was  open  every  morning.  His  plan,  as  far  as 
he  had  formed  one,  was  to  dig  a  hole  in  the  floor,  descend  into  the  Secretary's 
room  by  a  rope  made  out  of  his  bedclothes,    hide  under   the   table,    and    watch 


THE  PRISON-BREAKER. 


45 


his  opportunity  to  break  cover.  But  then,  of  course,  he  might  meet  with  a 
sentinel  before  he  could  gain  the  prison  gate  with  the  Secretary's  key  ;  if  so,  he 
would  kill  that  sentinel  with  his  dagger. 

Thus  far  his  plans  were  matured  ;  yet  he  could  not  even  begin  his  work, 
for  so  bitter  was  the  cold  that  directly  he  grasped  the  iron  his  hands  froze  to 
it.  Moreover,  for  nineteen  hours  out  of  the  twenty-four  he  was  in  utter  dark- 
ness, for  the  fogs  were  so  thick  and  the  skylight  so  obscured  that  even  by  day- 


"HE  HEARD  THE  TRAMP  OF  FOOTSTKPS  "     (/  47  ) 

light  he  could  hardly  see  to  the  other  end  of  his  cell.  But  at  length  a  thought 
struck  him — he  would  contrive  to  manufacture  a  lamp  to  work  by.  He  had 
neither  the  lamp  itself  nor  the  accessories — wick,  oil,  flint,  or  tinder — but  by 
degrees  he  contrived  to  possess  himself  of  all.  He  managed  to  conceal  in  his 
bedding  an  earthen  pipkin  that  was  brought  one  day  with  his  meals,  the  oil  he 
saved  from  his  salad,  the  wick  was  manufactured  from  cotton  which  he  took 
out  of  his  bed,  and  a  buckle  in  his  belt  he  used  as  a  steel.  He  still  wanted  a 
flint  and  tinder  ;  but  these  also  he  obtained  by  the  following  strategems.  By 
pretending  to  have  the  tooth-ache  he  induced  Lorenzo  to  give  him  a  piece  of 
flint  to  be  steeped  in  vinegar  and  applied  to  his  tooth.  At  the  same  time  he 
obtained  a  small  quantity  of  sulphur  as  liniment  for  an  acute  irritation  of  the 
skin  which  he  feigned.  Tinder  only  remained  to  seek.  After  racking  his 
brains  for  three  days,  he  at  last  bethought  him  that  he  had  ordered  his  tailor 
to  pad  his  silk  waistcoat  under  the  armpits  with  sponge,  to  prevent  stains.     His 


46  THE  PRISON  BREAKER. 

heart  beat  as  he  looked  at  his  clothes,  for  the  tailor  might  have  neglected  his 
orders.  He  paused  for  minute  after  minute  between  hope  and  fear,  and  it  was 
not  without  a  prayer  that  he  at  last  felt  under  the  armholes  ol  the  vest  :  the 
sponge  was  there.  He  poured  the  oil  into  the  pipkin,  set  the  wick  in,  and  the 
lamp  was  ready.     Henceforward  he  no  longer  dreaded  the  approach  of  night. 

He  resolved  to  begin  his  labours  on  the  first  Monday  in  Lent  But  here 
another  obstacle  occurred.  He  had  always  been  eagerly  anxious  to  have  his 
room  swept,  to  keep  within  reasonable  bounds  the  numbers  of  vermin  that 
tortured  him.  But  if  his  room  was  swept  every  day,  how  could  he  hope  to 
remain  undetected  in  his  operations  on  the  floor  ?  He  therefore  desired  that 
they  would  no  longer  sweep  out  his  cell.  For  a  week  Lorenzo  fell  in  with 
this  wish  ;  but  at  length,  perhaps  from  a  vague  suspicion  that  something  wrong 
was  going  forward,  he  had  the  room  cleaned  and  the  bed  moved,  and  even 
brought  in  a  light,  on  the  pretence  of  seeing  that  the  work  had  been  thoroughly 
done. 

But  in  Casanova  he  was  overmatched.  Next  morning  the  prisoner  was  ill  in 
bed,  coughing  as  though  his  last  hour  were  at  hand,  and  declaring  that  the 
chill  had  caused  him  to  break  a  blood  vessel  in  the  night.  For  proof  he  held 
out  a  handkerchief,  which  was  indeed  stained  with  blood — for  Casanova  had 
cut  his  thumb  for  that  purpose.  "  See,"  he  cried,  "  how  I  have  bled  !  Please 
send  for  a  doctor  at  once  ! '' 

The  doctor  was  sent  for,  heard  Casanova's  complaint,  and  declared  it  just. 
Henceforward  his  room  was  left  unscrubbed. 

And  now  Casanova  set  to  work.  He  pulled  his  bed  out  of  its  alcove,  lit  his 
lamp,  and  commenced  upon  the  boards  with  his  dagger.  They  were  sixteen 
inches  in  breadth,  and  he  began  to  bore  at  the  seam  where  two  of  them  joined. 
At  first  the  chips  he  dug  out  were  no  bigger  than  grains  of  wheat,  but  as  he 
got  forward  with  his  work  they  increased  in  size.  He  worked  for  six  hours 
at  a  stretch,  gathered  all  the  splinters  together  in  a  handkerchief,  and  flung 
them  behind  the  lumber  in  the  corridor  when  he  took  his  daily  walk. 

He  bored  through  the  plank  and  found  another  of  equal  thickness  ;  and  a 
third  again  below  that.  These  three  boards  took  him  three  weeks.  But  when 
he  had  worked  through  them  a  still  more  stubborn  obstacle  was  to  be  over- 
come— a  sort  of  mosaic  pavement  of  marble,  on  which  his  stiletto  could 
make  no  impression.  He  remembered,  however,  Livy's  story  of  Hannibal, 
and  how  he  had  softened  the  rocks  of  the  Alps  by  vinegar.  He  moistened, 
therefore,  the  mortar  of  the  mosaic  with  the  vinegar  which  had  been  given 
him,  and  at  the  end  of  four  days  was  able,  to  his  satisfaction,  to  work  with 
comparative  ease  on  this  pavement.  After  this  came  another  plank,  and  this 
was  the  worst  of  all  to  cut  through,  for  by  this  time  the  hole  was  ten  inches 
deep,  and  it  was  only  with  great  difficulty  that  he  could  use  his  dagger. 

It  was  June  by  this  time,  and  almost  a  year  since  his  incarceration,  when 
one  day  as  he  lay   flat  on    the  ground,   digging,  with    perspiration  streaming 


THE  PRISON-BREAKER.  47 

down  his  naked  body,  he  was  startled  to  hear  the  tramp  of  footsteps  and 
the  rattling  of  bolts  in  the  distance.  He  had  only  just  time  to  blow  out  his 
lamp,  and  push  the  bed  back  in  its  place,  before  Lorenzo  entered.  He  brought 
a  new  prisoner,  who  said  as  he  entered,  "  Where  am  I  ^  Where  am  I  to  be 
shut  up,  and  with  whom  ?  What  a  heat,  and  what  a  smell  !  "  At  the  sound 
of  his  voice  Casanova  started.  The  new-comer  was  an  old  friend  oi  his,  a 
Count  Fanarola,  a  pleasant  and  honorable  gentleman  who  had  been  committed 
for  some  remarks  he  had  uttered  against  the  Tribunal.  Delighted  to  have 
such  a  companion,  Casanova  for  some  days  almost  forgot  his  project  of  escape  ; 
but  Fanarola  was  soon  liberated,  and  the  work  began  again. 

He  now  found  that  the  room  underneath  was  indeed  the  Secretary's,  but 
also  discovered  that  his  hole  had  been  made  just  over  an  immense  cross-beam, 
so  that  he  was  obliged  to  work  away  towards  one  side  Meanwhile  he  stopped 
up  with  bread  the  puncture  he  had  made  in  the  Secretary's  ceiling,  that  the 
light  of  his  lamp  might  not  be  observed. 

On  August  the  23rd,  1756,  all  was  ready,  but  he  resolved  to  postpone  his 
attempt  to  break  through  until  the  27th,  on  which  day — St  Augustine's  Day — 
the  grand  council  would  meet,  so  that  the  ante-room  next  the  chamber,  through 
which  he  must  pass,  would  be  left  empty. 

It  was  an  ill-fated  piece  of  prudence.  "On  August  25th,"  he  says,  "an 
event  happened  which  even  to  this  day  makes  me  shudder  when  I  recall  it. 
I  heard  the  bolts  drawn.  A  fear  like  death  took  hold  of  me  ;  my  heart  beat 
so  that  my  body  shook  with  it,  and  almost  in  a  swoon  I  dropped  into  my 
arm-chair.  Lorenzo,  while  yet  in  the  garret,  called  through  the  grating  to  me 
in  a  joyful  tone,  '  I  wish  you  joy  of  the  news  I  bring  you  .'" 

"  I  fancied  that  he  brought  me  news  of  freedom,  and  felt  myself  lost.  The 
hole  in  the  floor  would  shut  me  off  from  liberty.  In  came  Lorenzo  and  bade 
me  follow  him.  I  was  dressing  myself,  but  he  declared  it  unnecessary, 
saying  he  was  only  going  to  transport  me  from  my  present  hateful  cell  to 
another,  new  and  well  lit,  with  two  windows  whence  I  could  overlook  Venice, 
and  stand  upright  to  boot.  I  was  nearly  mad.  I  asked  for  vinegar,  and  bade 
him  thank  the  Secretary,  but  beg  him  to  leave  me  where  I  was.  Lorenzo 
said,  '  Are  you  mad,  that  you  will  not  change  Hell  for  Paradise  .'' '  and  giving 
me  his  arm,  issued  order  that  my  books,  bed,  &c.,  should  be  brought  after.  I 
saw  it  was  in  vain  to  oppose  further.  I  rose  and  left  my  cage,  and  with  some 
small  joy  heard  him  order  my  chair  should  be  carried  with  me  :  my  stiletto 
was  hidden  in  its  straw  If  it  had  been  possible  that  my  labour  on  the  floor 
could  have  gone  with  me  also  ! 

"Leaning  on  Lorenzo's  shoulder,  while  he  tried  by  jesting  to  make  me 
joyful,  I  passed  two  long  corridors,  over  three  steps  into  a  spacious  and  well-lit 
hall,  and  then  through  a  door  at  the  left  end  of  it  into  a  corridor  some  twelve 
feet  long  by  ten  broad.  There  were  two  windows  here  which  gave  me  a  wide 
view  of  the  city,  but  I  could  not  rejoice  as  I  looked.     The  door  of  my  new    cell 


48  THE  PRISON-BREAKER. 

was  in  the  corner  of  this  corridor,  and  its  grating  faced  one  of  the  windows  in 
the  passage,  so  that  one  imprisoned  there  could  not  only  enjoy  the  view,  but 
even  breathe  the  fresh  air  that  came  through  the  open  window — a  healing  balm 
to  any  mortal  at  this  time  of  year  ;  but,  as  the  reader  may  imagine,  I  did  not 
think  of  this  at  the  time.  Lorenzo  left  me  and  my  chair,  into  which  I  flung 
myself,  and  said  he  was  going  for  my  bed." 

Casanova  sat  for  some  time  in  this  arm-chair  completely  overwhelmed  by  the 
blow.  It  seemed  to  him  that  with  the  discovery  of  his  attempted  escape  the 
severest  of  punishments  would  be  dealt  out  to  him.  He  had  heard  oi  tlie  ivells 
— those  silent  dungeons  where,  beneath  the  waters  of  the  lagoons,  the  most 
hopeless  of  the  Venetian  prisoners  dragged  out  their  days — and  he  was  thinking 
of  this  as  his  probable  fate  when  the  door  was  flung  violently  open  and 
Lorenzo  rushed  into  the  room. 

He  was  purple  with  passion,  and  rolled  out  torrent  on  torrent  of  blasphemous 
oaths.  "  Give  me  the  axe  !  Give  me  the  axe,"  he  cried,  "  with  which  you  have 
been  working  !     Who  made  it — who  gave  it  to  you  .''     Tell  me  his    name  !     I'll 

have  you  searched  ;     I'll " 

But  here  Casanova's  old  spirit  returned.     He  calmly  said — 
*'  Dear  me  !  what  is  all  this  ?    Search  by  all  means,  if  you  will." 
Prisoner,  bed,  and  mattress  were  searched,   and    searched    in    vain.     Luckily 
the  arm-chair  was  not  explored. 

"  So  you  won't  tell  me  !  "  screamed  Lorenzo.  "  I'll  see  if  others  cannot  make 
you  confess." 

"  My  good  Lorenzo,"  answered  Casanova,  '*  pray  consider.  Speak  a  word, 
and  I  shall  say  that  you  yourself  supplied  me  with  the  tools,  and  that  you 
yourself  have  received  them  back  from  me." 

This  was  too  much.  Lorenzo  howled,  stamped,  ran  his  head  against  the 
wall,  capered  like  a  maniac,  cursed  until  the  cell  echoed  again,  and  dashed 
away.  When  he  returned  Casanova's  threat  had  had  its  effect.  The  goaler 
secretly  filled  up  the  hole,  and  was  very  careful  to  breathe  no  word  about  it  to 
his  masters. 

He  was  vindictive,  however.  He  closed  all  the  windows  and  made  the  heat 
of  the  place  intolerable,  he  brought  bad  food,  stinking  water,  and  hard  bread  in 
place  of  the  usual  diet,  and  in  a  hundred  ways  made  his  prisoner's  life  a 
burden.  For  a  week  Casanova  perspired  and  suffered  in  silence.  Then  he  said 
to  Lorenzo — 

"  My  good  friend,  when  I  get  my  liberty  I  shall  assuredly  throttle  you. 
Meanwhile,  about  that  money  .-'  " 

The  gaoler  again  gave  in  ;  but  not  before  Casanova  had,  in  the  presence  of 
the  sub-gaolers,  demanded  his  account  and  accused  him  of  cheating.  After  that 
he  seized  the  first  opportunity  to  make  his  peace  It  happened  that  the  patron 
Bragadino  had  sent  Casanova  a  basket  of  lemons  and  a  chicken  ;  Lorenzo  added 
a  bottle  of  good  water  and  brought  the  whole  to  the  prisoner,  at  the  same  time 


THE  PRISON-BREAKER. 


49 


ordering  the  windows  of  his  cell  to  be  opened.  Casanova  was  appeased,  told 
him  to  divide  a  sequin  among  his  underlings,  and  make  a  present  to  his  wife 
of  the  rest  of  the  balance. 

"  But,"  said  Lorenzo,  when  they  were  alone,  "  you  say  I  gave  you  the  tools 
with  which  you  made  that  hole  in  the  floor.  Well,  I  am  not  curious  to  know 
about  that.  But  who  gave  you  the  lamp  ?  "  "  Why  you  did,"  was  the  answer ; 
*' you  gave  me  oil,  flint,  and  sulphur."  "  Very  true  ;  can  you  prove  as  easily 
that  I  helped  you  to  break  through  the  floor.-'"  "  Just  as  easily  ;  I  obtained 
everything  from  you.  I  will  confess  all,  but  only  in  the  presence  of  the  Secre- 
tary." "No,  no.  I  will  inquire  no  further,  but  take  your  word  Be  silent,  I 
entreat  you,  and  remember  that  I  am  a  poor  man  with  a  family."  Lorenzo  left 
the  cell,  holding  his  hands  to  his  face. 

All  the  same,  Casanova  was  for  the  future  carefully  watched,  and  every  day 
the  sub-goaler  searched  the  walls  and  the  floor  of  his  prison  with  an  iron  bar. 
But  Casanova  laughed  at  these  precutions.  He  had  a  new  plan.  This  time  he 
would  open  communications  with  the  prisoner  above,  whom  he  would  furnish 
with  his  dagger.  The  hole  should  be  made  in  the  ceiling  of  his  cell,  and  he 
would  ascend  into  the  upper  cell  and  then  break  out  by  way  of  the  roof. 

Of  all  mad  schemes  this  seems  at  first  blush  the  maddest.  For  even  suppose 
the  prisoners  to  have  ascended  to  the  roof,  the  chances  of  their  recapture  were 
still  enormous.  And  how  was  the  initial  step  to  be  taken — that  of  com- 
municating with  his  fellow  prisoner  }  As  luck  would  have  it,  Lorenzo  himself 
set  the  scheme  in  motion. 

The  gaoler,  who,  according  to  Casanova,  •'  would  have  sold  St.  Mark  himself 
Vor  a  dollar,"  was  always  inclined  to  take  it  ill  that  his  prisoner's  money  should 
pass  into  any  pocket  but  his  own.  One  day  Casanova  desired  him  to  procure 
the  works  of  Maffei.  '*  Dear  me  !  "  was  the  answer  ;  "  you  spend  a  deal  of  money 
on  books.  Why  not  borrow  sometimes  from  the  man  above  your  head  ?  He, 
too,  reads  a  great  deal,  and  no  doubt  your  tastes  have  something  in  common." 
"  The  very  thing,"  said  Casanova.     "  Why  did  you  not  suggest  it  before  ? " 

Next  day  a  volume  of  Wolff's  writings  was  brought  from  upstairs.  On 
turning  over  the  leaves,  Casanova  found  a  loose  sheet  of  paper  among  them, 
containing  a  paraphrase  in  verse  of  a  sentence  of  Seneca.  Casanova  shaped  the 
nail  of  his  little  finger  into  a  sort  of  pen,  and  with  some  mulberry-juice  con- 
trived to  write  some  verses  and  a  catalogue  of  his  books  on  the  last  leaf  of 
the  tome. 

With  the  next  volume  came  an  answer.  The  writer  stated  that  he  was  a 
monk,  Marino  Baldi  by  name,  and  of  good  family  ;  that  he  had  a  fellow 
prisoner,  one  Count  Andreas  Asquino,  of  Udino,  and  that  together  they  begged 
to  make  Casanova  welcome  to  borrow  any  of  their  books.  In  reply  Casanova 
sent  an  account  of  himself  and  his  sufferings;  and  with  the  next  book  came 
a  long  letter,  and  also,  at  the  back  of  the  binding,  paper,  pen,  and  pencil  which 
the  two  prisoners  had  become  possessed  of  by  bribing  the  sub-gaoler. 


50  THE  PRISON-BREAKER. 

The  sub-gaoler  had  also  told  the  prisoners  of  Casanova's  attempted  escape, 
and  they  were  eager  to  know  if  he  had  any  further  plans.  Casanova  hesitated, 
but  finally  resolved  that  the  monk  must  be  trusted.  He  put  his  scheme  in 
writing  and  sent  it  with  the  next  volume.  The  monk  made  some  objections 
which  were  overruled,  and  Balbi  undertook  to  bore  through  the  floor  if  Casanova 
could  only  manage  to  send  up  the  stiletto. 

How  was  this  to  be  done  .-'  At  length  a  plan  was  hit  upon.  Lorenzo  was 
directed  to  buy  a  large  folio  volume  of  a  certain  work,  in  the  back  of  which 
Casanova  thought  he  could  conceal  the  weapon.  To  his  chagrin,  the  dagger 
turned  out  to  be  two  inches  longer  than  the  volume.  But  Casanova  was  equal 
to  this.  He  told  Lorenzo  that  he  desired  to  celebrate  Michaelmas  Day  by 
making  a  present  to  the  prisoner  who  had  lent  him  the  books,  of  a  plate  of 
macaroni,  dressed  with  butter  and  Parmesan.  Lorenzo  answered  that  the 
prisoner  wished  to  borrow  the  great  volume  that  had  just  been  procured. 
"Very  well,"  said  Casanova,  "I  will  send  the  two  presents  together.  Get  me 
the  largest  dish  you  can  procure  I  will  myself  prepare  the  macaroni,  and  you 
can  carry  it  up." 

While  Lorenzo  was  going  for  the  dish,  Casanova  wrapped  up  his  stiletto  in 
paper  and  stuck  it  behind  the  binding  of  the  folio.  He  was  sure  that  if  he 
put  the  large  dish  on  top  of  the  book,  Lorenzo  would  be  so  occupied  in  carrying 
it  safely  that  he  would  never  spy  the  end  of  the  steel  projecting.  He  had 
told  Balbi  of  this,  and  charged  him  to  be  careful  to  take  both  dish  and  book 
together  out  of  the  gaoler's  hands.  Lorenzo  brought  in  a  great  pan  and  Casa- 
nova poured  the  stuff  out  into  it  until  it  swam  to  the  brim.  He  thefi  set  the 
dish  on  the  volume  and  gave  the  two  to  Lorenzo,  saying,  "  Stretch  out  your 
arms  well  and  go  carefully,  or  the  butter  will  run  over  the  book."  '*  I  observed 
him  steadily,"  says  the  prisoner.  "  His  eyes  were  riveted  on  the  butter,  which 
he  feared  to  spill.  He  suggested  that  it  would  be  better  to  take  the  dish  first 
and  then  come  back  for  the  book.  I  told  him  that  by  doing  so  he  would 
rob  my  present  of  half  its  value.  'Very  \\  ell,'  he  said,  'please  yourself,  only 
it  won't  be  my  fault  if  the  butter  runs  over.'  I  followed  him  with  my  eyes 
and  then  heard  him  go  cautiously  upstairs  ;  and  presently  Balbi  coughed  three 
times,  which  was  the  signal  that  all  was  well." 

Balbi  now  began  the  work  of  digging.  He  was  young  and  strong,  and 
though  he  did  not  work  with  the  same  restless  energy  that  Casanova  had  dis- 
played, he  had,  by  the  middle  of  October,  progressed  so  far  that  only  one  plank 
remained  to  be  cut  through.  He  would  then  have  to  push  in  the  ceiling,  and 
this,  of  course,  was  to  be  left  to  the  last  moment.  But  once  more,  and  when 
Casanova  was  already  beginning  to  exult,  an  obstacle  arose.  He  heard  the 
outer  doors  opening,  and  had  only  just  time  to  make  the  signal  to  Balbi  to  stop 
working  when  Lorenzo  brought  in  a  companion — a  small,  shrivelled  man,  wear- 
ing a  threadbare  suit  and  a  black  wig,  "He  is  a  great  scoundrel,  I'm  afraid,'' 
said  Lorenzo,  "  I'm  afraid  he  looks  it,"  answered  Casanova.  The  gaoler  ordered 


THE  PRISON-BREAKER. 


5» 


a  mattress  to  be  brought,  and   informing  the  new-comer  that   tenpence  a   day 
was  allowed  for  his  maintenance,  took  his  leave. 

The  new  comrade's  name  was  Sorodaci.  He  was  a  low  informer,  and-o/ic  'of 
the  worst  scoundrels  in  Venice  ;  and  found  himself  in  prison  fo-  naving  given 
false  evidence  to  the  Tribunal.  Luckily,  he  was  incredibly  •  superstitious,  and 
Casanova  worked  upon  his  failing.     He  could  not  out  off  his  attempt,  which  was 


"'I   OBSERVED   HIM   STEADILY*"    ( /).    50 ) 

fixed  for  the  last  night  in  October,  as  on  November  ist  the  Secretary  would  be 
absent  from  the  prison  and  paying  his  annual  visit  to  the  villages  round  Venice, 
and  Lorenzo  ussually  took  advantage  of  this  absence  to  make  merry  with  his 
friends — to  such  an  extent,  indeed,  that  he  never  rose  until  late  on  the  following 
morning,    and  the  prisoners  had  to  wait  for  their  breakfasts  in  consequence. 

Casanova  actually  persuaded  the  unhappy  Sorodaci  that  the  Holy  Virgin 
was  about  to  send  an  angel  for  his  release.  "I  shall  mount  through  the  ceiling," 
said  he,    "  and  you  will  see  me  no  more  ;    it  will   come,  this   succour,  in  about 


52  .  THE  PRISON-BREAKER. 

five  days'  time."  The  gross  idiot  at  last  implicitly  believed  that  this  miracle 
would  be  worked  When  on  the  evening  of  the  31st  the  plaster  gave  way 
and  the.  monk  Balbi  descended  into  their  cell,  he  knelt  and  jabbered  prayer  after 
prayer,  until  Tasanova  had  much  ado  to  refrain  from  riotous  laughter. 

There  was  no  cme  to  be  lost,  however  ;  so  taking  the  stiletto  from  Balbi, 
Casanova  climbed  into  the  upper  cell  to  look  about.  At  the  first  glance  he 
saw  that  the  other  prisoner,  Count  Asquino,  was  too  old  and  feeble  to  attempt 
to  share  in  the  enterprise.  He  was  seventy  years  of  age,  and  frankly  owned  he 
had  not  the  nerve  to  attempt  to  escape.  "  I  have  no  wings,"  he  said,  *'  with 
which  to  descend  from  the  roof,  but  will  remain  and  pray  for  you  who  have 
more  strength  and  fewer  fears." 

On  trying  the  roof,  Casanova  found  it  break  away  so  easily  that  an  hour 
would  suffice  for  making  the  necessary  opening.  He  returned  to  his  own  cell, 
cut  up  the  sheets,  napkins,  and  shirts  to  make  a  stout  rope,  firmly  tied,  and  a 
hundred  feet  in  length,  and  then  dressed  himself  for  the  escape.  He  and  the 
monk  then  re-ascended,  and,  whilst  Balbi  packed,  Casanova  attacked  the  roof. 

At  length  he  was  able  to  thrust  his  head  through  the  hole,  and  saw 
to  his  dismay  that  the  moon  was  high  and  clear,  and  would  prevent  the 
attempt  till  a  later  hour,  when  St.  Mark's  Place  below  was  empty.  As  it  was,  if 
any  in  the  crowd  looked  up,  they  could  not  fail  to  be  observed  moving  about 
the  roof.  The  count  lent  them  two  sequins,  which  was  all  the  money  they 
had  :  and  after  the  moon  had  gone  down,  the  two  climbed  up  together  and 
out  on  the  leads.  The  spy  refused  to  accompany  them  :  his  courage  failed  him, 
and  Casanova  with  great  readiness  left  him  behind. 

The   further  history  of  this  enterprise  shall  be  told  in  Casanova's  own  words  : 

"I  hung  the  bundle  of  cord  on  Balbi's  shoulder,  flung  his  parcel  over  the 
other,  and  having  loaded  myself,  led  the  way.  Most  of  my  clothes  I  carried  in 
my  parcel,  but  wore  my  hat  on  my  head.  I  climbed  and  looked  through  the 
opening.  There  was  a  mist  about,  but  every  object  was  visible  enough.  Stoop- 
ing and  clambering,  I  thrust  the  point  of  my  weapon  between  the  lead  plates  to 
serve  me  as  a  support.  Holding  to  this  with  one  hand,  and  with  the  other  to 
the  plank  on  which  the  plate  had  lain,  I  pulled  myself  up  the  roof  Balbi 
followed,  grasping  my  sash  behind.  I  was  like  a  beast  of  burden,  and  had  to 
drag  as  well  as  carry  ;  and  in  this  way  I  had  to  ascend  the  steep  and  slippery 
side  of  the  roof. 

"  We  were  halfway  up  this  perilous  place,  when  Balbi  asked  me  to  stop, 
saying  that  one  of  his  bundles  had  fallen  off  and  had  probably  been  arrested 
by  the  gutter  below.  I  had  a  mind  at  first  to  give  him  a  thrust  that  would 
send  him  after  it,  but  Heaven  restrained  mc  ;  and  mercifully,  for  the  punish- 
ment would  have  fallen  on  me,  for  his  help  was  necessary  to  me.  When  I 
heard  that  the  bundle  held  his  black  gown,  a  couple  of  shirts,  and  a  manuscript, 
I  consoled  him  as  well  as  I  could.  He  sighed  and  followed,  still  clinging  tQ 
my  sash. 


THE  PRISON-BREAKER.  ^3 

*'  I  climbed  over  some  sixteen  of  these  lead  plates,  and  then  reached  the 
ridge  of  the  roof,  on  which  I  set  myself  astride.  The  monk  imitated  me.  Our 
backs  were  turned  towards  the  island  of  St.  Georgio  Maggiore,  and  about 
two  hundred  paces  in  front  rose  the  cupola  of  St  Mark's.  Here  we  took 
off  our  bundles,  and  Balbi  stuck  the  rope  between  his  legs  ;  but  on  laying  his 
hat  upon  his  right  knee,  it  rolled  off  down  the  roof  and  tumbled  over  into  the 
canal.  He  held  it  a  bad  omen,  and  lamented  that  he  had  now  lost  hat,  gown, 
shirts,  and  papers  ;  but  I  advised  him  to  be  thankful  that  it  had  fallen  to  the 
right  and  not  to  the  left,  or  it  would  have  given  the  alarm  to  the  sentinel  in  the 
arsenal  below. 

"  I  looked  about  me  a  little,  and  then,  ordering  Balbi  to  sit  still  until  I 
returned,  began  to  clamber  forward  along  the  ridge,  my  stiletto  in  my  hand. 
For  an  hour  I  climbed  thus,  seeking  for  a  hold  for  the  rope  :  but  all  the  places 
below  were  enclosed,  and  there  were  insurmountable  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
getting  to  the  canonica  on  the  far  side  of  the  church.  Yet  everything  must  be 
risked,  and  I  must  not  allow  myself  to  dwell  upon  the  danger. 

**  About  two-thirds  of  the  w^ay  down  the  slope  of  the  roof,  I  noticed  a  dormer 
window,  which  I  judged  would  lead  to  some  passage  in  the  dwelling-houses 
outside  the  limits  of  the  prison.  Probably  at  daybreak  some  of  the  doors  lead- 
ing out  of  it  would  be  open  :  and  even  if  any  one  met  us  and  discovered  we  were 
escaping  prisoners,  I  made  up  my  mind  tbat  he  should  find  it  difficult  to 
detain  us. 

"  With  one  leg  stretched  out  tow^ards  this  window  I  let  myself  slide  down 
gently  until  I  reached  the  little  roof  of  it,  and  set  myself  there.  I  next  leaned 
over,  and  by  feeling,  found  it  to  be  a  window,  with  small  circular  panes  of 
glass  behind  a  grating.  To  work  through  this,  a  file  was  needed,  and  I  had  a 
stiletto  only. 

"  Sorely  dejected,  I  knew  not  what  step  to  take  next,  when  I  was  recalled 
to  myself  by  the  clock  of  St.  Mark's  striking  midnight.  Its  note  announced 
the  morning  of  All  Saints'  Day,  and  called  on  me  to  act  and  promised  me 
success.  Lying  flat  on  my  stomach,  I  reached  over  and  struck  time  after 
time  with  my  dagger  at  the  grating,  in  hopes  of  forcing  it  in.  In  a  quarter 
of  an  hour  I  had  smashed  four  of  the  wooden  squares,  and  my  hand  clutched 
the  framework  of  the  window  ;  the  panes  of  glass  were  quickly  broken  in,  for 
I  did  not  mind  cutting  my  hand. 

"My  next  step  was  to  climb  back  to  the  ridge  of  the  roof  and  rejoin  my 
companion.  I  found  him  in  a  fury,  and  cursing  me  roundly  for  having  left 
him  alone  for  two  hours.  He  had  made  up  his  mind  that  I  had  tumbled 
off  the  roof,  and  was  on  the  point  of  returning  to  his  cell.  '  What  are  you  going 
to  do  ? '  he  asked.  '  That  you  will  soon  see,'  I  answered  and  packing  up  his 
bundle  he  followed  me. 

"  We  reached  the  roof  of  the  dormer  window,  and  then  I  told  him  what 
I  had  done,  and  what  I  intended.     It  would  be  easy  enough  for   the   first   man. 


54 


THE  PRISON-BREAKER. 


as  the  second  would  hold  the  rope,  But  how  would  the  second  fare  in  his 
turn  ?  He  might  break  his  leg  in  leaping  down  from  the  window-sill  to  the 
floor  within,  for  we  had  no  idea  of  the  height  of  the  room.  Balbi  promptly- 
proposed  that  I  should  let  him  go  first.  I  just  contrived  to  conceal  my  anger 
at  his  selfishness,  and  proceeded  to  grant  him  his  wish.  Having  tied  the 
rope  round  him,  I  set  myself  astride  of  the  window-roof  and  let  him  down, 
making  him  rest  his  elbow  on  the  roof  whilst  he  inserted  his  legs  into  the  hole 
which  I  had  made.  I  then  laid  myself  prone  on  the  ridge,  and  bade  him  be 
satisfied  that  I  would  keep  a  firm  hold  on  the  rope. 

"  He  wriggled  in  and  came  safely  down  to  the  floor,  untied  himself,  and  I 
drew  the  rope  back.  But  as  I  did  so  I  measured  and  found  that  the  space 
between  the  window-ledge  and  the  floor  was  ten  times  my  arm's  length.  To 
jump  this  was  impossible. 

"  Balbi  called  to  me  to  throw  him  the  rope,  but  I  took  care  not  to  follow 
his  advice.  In  despair  I  clambered  up  to  the  main  roof  again  and  there  found 
a  cupola,  somewhat  beyond  the  part  of  the  ridge  which  I  had  traversed.  It  led 
me  to  a  stage  covered  with  lead  plates,  and  having  a  trap-door  in  it  covered 
with  shutters.  A  tub  of  fresh  lime  was  standing  here,  and  a  fairly  long  ladder. 
On  this  I  seized,  and,  tying  my  rope  to  one  of  the  rungs,  climbed  back  to  the 
roof,  pulling  the  ladder  after  me. 

"  It  was  twelve  times  the  length  of  my  arm,  and  I  meant,  if  I  could,  to  thrust 
it  in  at  the  dormer  window  and  use  it  to  join  my  companion.  It  was  now 
that  I  missed  Balbi's  help.  I  lowered  the  ladder  down  to  the  gutter  below, 
so  that  one  end  stood  in  the  gutter  and  the  other  leant  against  the  window. 
I  then  pulled,  at  it  with  the  rope,  and  endeavoured  to  get  the  end  in  at  the 
window,  but  in  vain.  It  would  not  catch  in  the  window-frame,  but  always 
came  sliding  over  the  edge  of  the  roof 

"  Matters  were  desperate  Day  would  come  and  find  me  still  struggling, 
and  bring  Lorenzo  too.  I  resolved  to  slide  down  the  roof  to  the  gutter,  and 
work  the  ladder  in  from  below.  I  did  so.  The  gutter  gave  me  a  resting- 
place  as  I  lay  at  full  length  and  pushed.  At  last  I  managed  to  push  it  a  foot 
into  the  window,  and  this  took  much  of  its  weight  off  me.  But  it  was  necessary 
to  thrust  it  in  yet  two  feet  more.  I  should  then  be  able  to  climb  back  to  the 
window-roof  and  pull  it  completely  in  by  the  rope.  To  do  this  I  had  to  rise  to 
my  knees,  and  as  I  did  so  they  slipped  off  the  gutter  and  I  lay  with  my  legs 
dangling  in  air,  and  my  chest  and  elbows  only  preventing  my  fall 

"  I  put  forth  all  my  strength  to  pull  myself  up  and  back  to  the  gutter. 
Luckily  the  ladder  gave  me  no  trouble,  for  it  was  now  three  feet  in  at  the 
window,  and  did  not  move.  I  tried  to  raise  my  right  knee  up  to  the  gutter,  and 
had  almost  succeeded  when  I  was  taken  with  a  paralysing  and  torturing  cramp  ! 

"It  was  a  horrible  moment.  For  two  minutes  I  hung  motionless  and  in 
agony.  At  length  the  pain  abated,  and  I  succeeded  in  lifting  one  knee  after 
another  up   to  the    gutter   again.     I  rested  a  few  minutes  to  breathe,  and  then 


'FOR    TWO    MINUTES    I    HUNG    IN    AGONY"'  (P.  54> 


56  THE  PRISON-BREAKER. 

pushed  the  ladder  still  further  in  at  the  window.  My  next  step  was  to  return 
to  the  window-roof  and  draw  the  ladder  right  in.  Balbi  caught  it  and  made  it 
fast  :  then,  after  throwing  in  my  bundle  and  rope,  I  lowered  myself  in  at  the 
window,  and  sliding  down  the  ladder,  stood  by  my  companion. 

"  We  shortly  congratulated  each  other,  and  proceeded  to  inspect  the  dark 
room  in  which  we  found  ourselves.  After  some  time  we  found  a  window,  the 
latch  of  which  I  raised,  and  passed  through  into  a  spacious  hall.  In  this  hall 
we  felt  round  the  walls,  and  presently  came  on  a  window,  the  sash  of  which  I 
flung  up,  and  by  the  light  of  the  stars  looked  down  into  a  fearful  abyss  No 
descent  could  be  made  here  with  our  rope.  I  returned  to  one  of  the  arm- 
chairs, and  flinging  myself  into  it,  was  seized  with  such  an  overwhelming  desire 
to  sleep,  that  if  I  had  been  told  it  was  death,  I  must  still  have  given  way  to  it. 
I  cannot  describe  the  strength  of  the  feeling. 

"  In  three  hours'  time  the  monk  awoke  me.  He  complained  that  to  sleep 
at  such  a  time  and  in  such  a  place  was  unutterable  folly.  I  agreed  with  him, 
but  at  the  same  I  felt  refreshed  and  ready  now  for  new  work.  We  groped 
about  until  we  came  on  a  large  iron  door,  and  opposite  to  it  a  smaller  one 
with  a  keyhole  ;  into  this  I  thrust  the  pomt  of  my  dagger,  crying,  *  Heaven 
grant  that  it  be  not  a  cupboard  ! ' 

¥  "  After  a  trial  or  two  the  lock  yielded,  and  entering  a  small  chamber  we 
found  a  table  with  a  key  on  it.  We  tried  it  on  the  first  key-hole  we  could 
discover  ;  it  opened  the  lock,  and  we  stood  in  cupboards  filled  with  papers.  It 
was  the  archive  chamber.  We  passed  up  a  few  steps,  opened  a  glass  door,  and 
entered  the  Chancery  of  the  Doge.  I  now  knew  where  I  was,  but  I  reflected 
that  if  we  let  ourselves  down  from  the  windows,  we  should  probably  drop  among 
a  perfect  maze  of  courtyards,  whence  egress  would  be  impossible.  So  I  caught 
up  an  instrument  used  for  piercing  parchments  to  afiix  the  seals,  and  giving  it 
to  Balbi,  told  him  to  work  away  with  it  upon  the  next  door,  which  was  locked, 
whilst  I  helped  with  my  stiletto, 

"  We  bored  away,  not  caring  for  the  noise,  until  we  had  made  a  tolerably 
big  hole.  But  the  splinters  menaced  our  clothes  when  we  attempted  to  creep 
through  ;  and  the  hole  was  five  feet  from  the  ground,  for  I  had  picked  the 
place  where  the  panel  was  thinnest.  I  pulled  up  a  chair,  and  the  monk  getting 
on  it,  stuck  his  arms  and  head  through  the  aperture,  while  I  pushed  the  rest 
of  him  through  into  the  next  room.  Its  darkness  did  not  frighten  me,  for  I 
knew  where  wc  were,  and  flung  my  bundle  after  him.  The  rope  I  now  left 
behind  As  there  was  no  one  to  help  me,  I  set  a  chair  on  the  top  of  two 
others,  and  clambered  through  as  far  as  my  loins  ;  after  this  I  bade  Balbi  pull 
me  with  all  his  force,  and  disregarded  the  pain  of  the  splinters  which  tore  my 
flesh.  We  then  hurriedly  stole  down  two  flights  of  stairs  and  came  to  the 
passage  leading  to  the  Royal  Stairs,  as  they  are  called  ;  but  here  we  were  pulled 
up.  The  gates  here  as  well  as  those  beyond  were  shut  with  four  broad  doors, 
to  force  which  would  have  demanded  a  siege-engine. 


THE  PRISON-BREAKER.  57 

"I  sat  myself  down  by  Balbi,  quite  calmly,  and  told  him  that  my  work  was 
finished,  and  the  rest  Heaven  and  fortune  would  help  us  accomplish.  '  To- 
day,' I  added,  '  is  All  Saints'  Day,  and  to-morrow  All  Souls'.  No  one,  there- 
fore, is  likely  to  come  here.  If  any  one  does,  he  will  open  the  gate,  in  which 
case  I  will  deliver  myself,  and  you  must  follow  ;  if  nobody,  then  I  will  stay  here 
and  die  of  hunger,  for  I  have  done  all  I  can.' 

"  Balbi  flew  into  a  furious  rage.  I  kept  my  temper,  however,  and  now  set 
about  dressing  myself.  Though  Balbi  looked  like  a  rustic,  his  dress,  at  any  rate, 
was  free  from  the  rents  and  bloodstains  that  disfigured  mine.  I  pulled  off  my 
stockings  and  found  deep  wounds  on  either  foot,  which  I  owed  to  the  gutter 
and  the  lead  roof.  Tearing  my  handkerchief  into  strips,  I  bandaged  the  wounds 
and  tied  them  round  with  some  thread  which  I  had  about  me.  I  donned  my 
silk  dress,  arranged  my  hair,  put  on  my  silk  stockings  and  shirt  with  lace 
ruflfles,  and  flung  my  cast-off  clothes  into  a  chair.  I  looked  like  a  dishevelled 
rake.  Balbi  tossed  my  handsome  mantle  over  his  shoulders  and  looked  for  all 
the  world  as  if  he  had  stolen  it. 

"I  now  drew  near  to  a  window  and  leaned  out  into  the  daylight.  As  I 
learned  some  years  after  in  Paris,  a  lounger  below  spiedme,  and,  going  to  the 
porter  of  the  palace,  informed  him  that  some  one  was  up  there,  doubtless 
locked  up  by  mistake.  The  fellow  came  to  release  us.  I  heard  the  sound  of 
footsteps  ascending  the  stairs  towards  us,  and  peering  through  a  chink,  saw 
only  one  old  man  with  a  bunch  of  keys  in  his  hand. 

"  I  whispered  to  Balbi  to  be  silent,  and  concealing  my  dagger  in  my  clothes, 
stood  close  to  the  door  so  that  I  could  reach  the  stairs  with  one  spring.  The 
key  turned  and  the  door  was  pushed  open.  So  amazed  was  the  old  man  to 
see  us,  that  I  was  able  to  pass  him  quickly  and  silently.  The  monk  followed 
at  my  heels.  I  walked  at  a  moderate  pace,  straight  for  the  Grand  Staircase. 
Balbi  would  have  turned  into  the  church  on  the  right  '  for  sanctuary,'  as  he 
said,  forgetting  that  in  Venice  there  was  no  such  sanctuary  for  State  criminals 
and  capital  offenders.     At  length,  however,  he  followed  me. 

"  I  expected  no  safety  in  Venice,  and  knew  that  I  was  in  peril  until  I  had 
passed  the  frontier  I  stood  now  before  the  Royal  Gate  of  the  Ducal  Palace  : 
without  looking  at  a  soul,  which  is  the  best  way  to  escape  observation,  I 
hurriedly  crossed  the  Piazzetta,  reached  the  canal,  and  jumped  into  the  first 
gondola  I  found. 

"We  looked  back.  No  gondola  was  in  pursuit  of  us.  It  was  a  glorious  day, 
lit  up  with  the  early  beams  of  a  delightful  sun.  I  thought  on  the  dangers  I 
had  passed,  on  my  abode  of  yesterday,  on  all  the  chances  that  had  so  wonder- 
fully favoured  me  ;  and  as  I  did  so,  I  silently  thanked  God  for  his  mercy. 
Borne  down  by  many  emotions  I  burst  into  tears,  which  eased  my  heart  of  the 
burden  of  joy  that  had  almost  crushed  it." 


58 


THE   STORY    OF    THE    EDDYSTONE. 

ijOME  fourteen  miles  to  the  south-west  of  Plymouth,  England,  and  in  a 
line  with  Start  Point  and  the  Lizard,  there  rises,  from  the  depths  of 
the  billowy  Channel,  a  ledge  of  rocks.  At  low  water  the  jagged 
points  of  this  dismal  reef  can  be  seen  above  the  waves,  like  the  teeth 
of  some  hungry  wolf;  with  the  rise  of  the  tide,  the  long  ridges  are  covered,  and 
the  spot  can  only  be  known  by  the  swirl  and  rush  of  the  currents. 

For  at  no  time  do  these  cease,  and  when  the  wind  is  blowing  stiffly  from  the 
south-west  they  seem  to  focus  and  concentrate  all  its  fury.  At  such  a  time  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  reef  is  destruction  to  the  bravest  ship,  and  the  boiling 
seas  have  a  secure  prey.  Their  fury  is  incredible  ;  "  mountainous  "  is  no  mere 
figure  of  speech  when  applied  to  their  height  and  volume  ;  and  even  when  the 
wind  falls  and  the  waters  sink,  there  remains  a  grim  assurance  that  what  the 
reef  has  done  it  will  do  again,  in  the  ceaseless  clash  of  currents,  tossing  and 
washing  around,  that  have  given  it  the  name  of  the  Eddystcme. 

Lying,  as  it  does,  not  only  full  in  the  water-way  towards  the  port  and 
arsenal  of  Plymouth,  but  also  in  ambush  for  all  vessels  sailing  in  or  out  of  the 
crowded  Channel,  it  has  been  the  terror  of  navigators  since  England  began  to 
be  a  commercial  nation.  And  for  centuries  the  erection  of  a  lighthouse  upon 
the  dreary  ledge  was  acknowledged  to  be  an  urgent  want  Yet  tiie  task  of 
building  it  was  held  so  dangerous,  and  the  difficulties  of  firm  censtruction  so 
forbidding,  that  until  1696  no  one  seriously  undertook  the  task. 

Even  in  1696,  the  man  who  came  forward  might  well  have  been  considered 
mad  In  many  respects  he  would  be  held  so  nowadays.  His  name  was  Henry 
Winstanley,  and  to  the  strangeness  of  his  undertaking  he  united  a  strangeness 
of  character  that  gives  his  story  all  the  air  of  a  romance  In  figure  he  was  tall 
and  lean,  in  face  cadaverous,  with  that  peculiar  type  of  feature  which  men  have 
agreed  to  fasten  on  Don  Quixote,  And  indeed,  in  many  respects,  Henry 
Winstanley  would  seem  to  have  resembled  the  noble  knight  of  La  Mancha. 
He,  too,  was  a  chivalrous  and  patriotic  gentleman — he  had  been  led  to  under- 
take the  task  simply  through  grief  at  the  loss  of  life  which  the  Eddystone 
occasioned  .year  by  year — and  is  described  to  us  as  one  of  those  fantastic 
natures  which  live  in  perpetual  conflict  with  the  commonplace,  and  struggle 
with  every  weapon  of  imagination  and  invention  to  make  life  tolerable  by  mak- 
ing it  mysterious.  The  weapon  of  Winstanley  was  a  deep  scientific  knowledge, 
and  nimble  inventive  faculty.  Of  the  direction  in  which  it  was  exercised,  some 
idea  may  be  gained  in  the  following  manner  :  — 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  EDDYSTONE.  59 

Suppose  yourself  invited  by  Winstanley  to  spend  a  few  nights  at  the  old 
Essex  manor-house  where  the  solitary  student  had  immured  himself.  All  went 
well  until  your  host  showed  you  to  your  room  and  left  you  for  the  night.  You 
made  a  step  or  two  over  the  worn  carpet  and  caught  your  foot  against  an  old 
slipper.  You  kicked  it  aside,  and  to  your  horror  and  amazement  a  whita, 
sheeted  ghost  rose  from  the  floor  and  fixed  its  glaring  eyes  on  your  face. 
Startled  almost  out  of  your  wits,  you  took  a  hasty  step  back  from  the  apparition 
and  sank  into  a  chair.  Immediately,  and  from  behind,  a  pair  of  arms  clasped 
you  about  the  neck  and  held  you  fast.  By  this  time  fairly  distraught,  you 
struggled  violently,  flung  yourself  free,  and  dashed  from  the  room  and  the 
house.  The  hall  door  was  open,  and  through  it  you  fled  into  the  antique 
garden,  between  the  trim  hedges  of  box  and  yew,  and  finally  found  yourself 
standing  on  a  neatly-kept  lawn  of  turf,  at  the  end  of  which  a  trellised  arbour 
invited  you  to  sit  and  collect  your  senses.  Scarcely  had  you  dropped  upon  the 
rustic  seat  when  the  bench  rose  with  you  into  the  air,  floated  out  of  the 
arbour,  over  the  neighbouring  hedge,  and  deposited  you  gently  in  an  artificial 
lake  beyond  ! 

By  such  devices  as  this,  Winstanley  occupied  his  leisure  and  endeared 
himself  to  his  friends.  But  at  length  the  idea  of  erecting  a  lighthouse  on  the 
Eddystone  reef  turned  his  invention  to  a  worthier  channel.  Even  in  this, 
however,  his  whimsical  fancy  asserted  itself.  The  design  gave  one  the  impression 
rather  of  a  Chinese  pagoda  than  a  lighthouse.  It  began,  soberly  enough,  in  a 
circular  tower,  but  the  summit  was  finished  off  with  galleries,  and  the  whole 
was  ornamented  with  chains  and  cranes  like  a  London  warehouse  ! 

The  work  was  begun  in  the  summer  of  1696 — for  it  was  only  in  summer 
that  men  could  venture  on  that  dreary  reef.  The  first  year  was  spent  in  ex- 
cavating twelve  deep  holes  in  the  solid  rock,  and  sinking  in  each  a  solid  bar 
of  iron  to  hold  the  superstructure  firm.  All  this  was  done  but  slowly,  for  al- 
though it  was  summer,  the  violence  of  the  sea  often  prevented  labour  for  a  fort- 
night at  a  time  ;  and  even  when  the  wind  abated  it  was  difficult  to  find  a  land- 
ing on  the  largest  rock,  which  was  the  one  Winstanley  had  chosen  ;  for  the  reef 
points  to  the  north-east,  and  the  rocks  spread  their  inclined  sides  to  the  roll  of 
the  Atlantic  billows,  and  as  they  continue  in  this  shelving  direction  for  many 
fathoms  below  the  surface,  the  "ground  swell"  thus  occasioned  renders  the 
utmost  caution  necessary  for  the  advancing  boat. 

The  second  summer  was  spent  in  erecting  a  solid  and  circular  mass  of 
masonry,  fourteen  feet  in  diameter,  and  clamping  it  securely  around  the  iron 
bars.  Twelve  feet  was  the  height  to  which  the  work  rose  this  year.  In  the 
third  summer,  as  the  masonry  rose  above  the  assault  of  the  waves,  the  work 
went  on  more  briskly.  The  base  was  enlarged  by  two  feet,  and  the  super- 
structure carried  up  to  a  height  of  sixty  feet 

"  Being  all  finished" — so  writes  the  engineer — "with  the  lantern  and  all  the 
rooms  that  were  in  it,  we  ventured  to  lodge  in  the  work.      But   the    first   night 


to  THE  STORY  OF  THE  EDDYSTONE. 

the  weather  became  bad,  and  so  continued,  that  it  was  eleven  days  before  any 
boats  could  come  near  us  again  ;  and  not  being  aquainted  with  the  height  of 
the  sea's  rising,  we  were  almost  drowned  with  wet,  and  our  provisions  in  as  bad 
a  condition,  though  we  w^orked  day  and  night  as  much  as  possible  to  make 
shelter  for  ourselves.  In  this  storm  we  lost  some  of  our  materials,  although 
we  did  what  we  could  to  save  them  ;  but  the  boat  then  returning,  we  all  left 
the  house  to  be  refreshed  on  shore.  And  as  soon  as  the  weather  did  permit,  we 
returned  and  finished  all,  and  put  up  the  light  on  the  14th  of  November, 
1698  :  which  being  so  late  in  the  year,  it  was  three  days  before  Christmas  be- 
fore we  had  relief  to  go  on  shore  again,  and  were  almost  at  the  last  extremity 
for  want  of  provisions.  But,  by  good  Providence,  then  two  boats  came  with 
provisions  and  the  family  that  was  to  take  care  of  the  light,  and  so  ended  the 
year's  work." 

Next  year  the  base  of  the  tower  was  greatly  strengthened,  and  the  rest  of 
the  fabric  finished  off.  Round  the  lantern  ran  an  open  gallery,  so  wide  that 
we  are  assured  it  was  possible,  when  the  sea  ran  high,  for  a  six-oared  boat  to 
be  lifted  up  on  the  crest  of  the  waves  and  driven  through  it  !  It  was  not  likely 
that  a  tower  so  constructed  could  long  hold  out  against  the  tearing  seas  of  the 
Eddystone,  but  to  Winstanley  at  least  is  due  the  credit  of  discovery  that  a 
lighthouse  was  possible  on  this  reef,  and  therefore  this  first  erection  merits  the 
description  given  to  it  as  "  one  of  the  most  laudable  enterprises  which  any 
heroic  mind  could  undertake,"  for  it  filled  the  breast  of  the  mariner  with 
new  hope. 

Whatever  the  doubts  that  existed  in  some  minds,  Winstanley,  at  any  rate, 
was  confident  in  the  stability  of  his  structure.  In  the  month  of  November, 
1703,  it  was  found  that  the  fabric  stood  in  want  of  some  repairs,  and  its  archi- 
tect travelled  down  to  Plymouth  to  superintend  their  performance.  As  he  was 
stepping  into  the  boat,  we  are  told,  that  was  to  convey  him  and  his  workmen 
to  the  reef,  one  of  the  friends  expressed  the  opinion  that  his  trip  was  likely 
to  be  a  dangerous  one  ;  "  for  "  said  he,  "  one  day  or  other  your  lighthouse  will 
assuredly  be  overset." 

Winstanly  replied — 

"  I,  its  designer,  am  at  any  rate  so  very  well  assured  of  its  strength,  that  I 
should  only  wish  to  be  there  in  the  greatest  storm  that  ever  blew  under  hea- 
ven, to  see  if  it  could  loosen  one  joint  or  beam." 

He  was  taken  at  his  word.  For  while  he  and  his  workmen  were  engaged 
upon  the  rock,  there  happened  that  dreadful  storm  that  raged  most  violently 
upon  the  26th  of  November,  1703,  throughout  the  night — a  storm  which,  by  all 
accounts  that  have  been  handed  down  to  us,  has  never  been  paralleled  in  the 
havoc  it  wrought  upon  the  shores  of  Great  Britain.  When,  next  morning,  the 
men  of  Plymouth  hurried  from  their  beds,  and  looked  out  towards  the  Eddy- 
stone,  the  seas  were  still  raging  about  the  rock,  but  the  lighthouse  was  there 
no  longer  !     The  waves  had  swallowed  it  with  its  architect. 


'•* 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  EDDYSTONE. 


6l 


It  is  of  this  terrible  storm  that  Gay  writes  in  his  Trivia  : — 

' '  So  when  fam'd  Eddystone's  far-shooting  ray, 
That  led  the  sailor  through  the  stormy  way, 
Was  from  its  rocky  height  by  billows  torn, 
And  the  high  turret  in  the  whirlwind  borne. 
Fleets  bulged  their  sides  against  the  craggy  land, 
And  pitchy  ruins  blackened  all  the  strand." 

When    the    rock   was  inspected,    nothing   was    found   standing  but  the   large 


winstanley's  lighthouse. 

irons  which  had  held  the  building  to  the  bed  of  rock  ;  the  stones,  the  wood- 
work, the  inhabitants  had  vanished.  There  was  only  discovered  of  the  whole, 
a  piece  of  an  iron  chain  so  fast  jammed  into  a  chink  of  the  rock  that  it  could 
never  be  disengaged  until  cut  out  in  1756. 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  book  published  in    1704,   soon  after  Win- 
stanley's death,  and  entitled  "  The  Storm  "  : — 


62  THE  STOR7  OF  THE  EDDYSTONE. 

"  Of  the  loss  of  the  lighthouse  called  the  Eddystone  at  Plymouth,  we  have 
never  heard  any  particulars  other  than  this  :  that  at  night  it  was  standing,  and 
In  the  morning  all  the  upper  part  of  the  gallery  was  blown  down  and  all  the 
people  in  it  perished  ;  and  by  a  peculiar  misfortune,  Mr.  Winstanley,  the 
contriver  of  it  ;  a  person  whose  loss  is  very  much  regretted  by  such  as  knew 
him,  as  a  very  useful  man  to  his  country.  The  loss  of  that  lighthouse  is  also 
a  considerable  damage  ;  as  'tis  very  doubtful  whether  it  will  ever  be  attempted 
again  ;  and  as  it  was  a  great  securitie  to  the  sailors,  many  a  good  ship  having 
been  lost  there  in  former  times.  It  is  very  remarkable  that,  as  we  are  informed, 
at  the  same  time  the  lighthouse  above  said  was  blown  down,  the  model  of  it 
in  Mr.  Winstanley's  house  at  Littlebury  in  Essex,  above  two  hundred  miles 
from  the  lighthouse,  fell  down  and  was  broke  to  pieces.  At  Plymouth  they 
felt  a  full  porportion  of  the  storm  in  its  utmost  fury.  The  Eddystone  has 
been  mentioned  already  :  but  it  was  a  double  loss,  in  that  the  lighthouse  had 
not  been  long  down  when  the  WincJielsea,  a  homeward-bound  Virginiaman,  was 
split  upon  the  rock  where  that  building  stood,  and  most  of  her  men  drowned." 

But  the  attempt  was  to  be  made  again,  and  before  the  conclusion  of  Queen 
Anne's  reign.  A  certain  Captain  Lovet,  having  obtained  a  lease  of  the  rock 
from  the  Brethren  of  the  Trinity  House,  determined  to  replace  Winstanley's 
structure.  To  this  end  he  engaged  as  his  architect  one  John  Rudyard,  who 
combined  a  taste  for  designing  with  the  occupation  of  a  silk-mercer  on  Ludgate 
Hill.  Of  this  Rudyard  (or  Ludyard,  as  he  is  variously  known)  little  is  told  us, 
and  we  hear  nothing  of  the  reasons  which  led  Captain  Lovet  to  make  this 
choice.  But  whatever  they  were,  they  were  justified  by  the  new  edifice,  which 
was  a  strong  though  graceful  structure,  circular  and  simple,  so  as  to  offer  the 
least  resistance  to  wind  and  wave 

To  obtain  his  foundation,  Rudyard  parcelled  out  the  surface  of  the  rock 
into  seven  slightly  unequal  divisions  of  height,  and  in  these  he  bored  thirty-six 
holes,  of  a  depth  varying  from  twenty  to  thirty  inches.  Each  hole  at  the  top 
was  six  inches  square,  and  after  gradually  narrowing  to  five  inches,  expanded 
at  the  bottom  to  nine  inches  by  three.  Into  these  sockets  Rudyard  inserted 
strong  bolts  of  iron,  in  weight  from  two  to  five  hundredweight.  These  held 
fast  the  lowest  course  of  squared  oak  timbers,  laid  lengthwise  on  the  lowest  of 
the  seven  stages,  until  the  course  was  on  a  level  with  the  next  step  or  stage 
just  above  it.  Then  a  course  of  beams  was  laid  transversely,  raising  the  height 
to  that  of  the  third  stage,  and  so  on,  the  layers  being  laid  alternately  along 
and  across,  until  a  foundation  of  solid  timber  was  raised,  two  courses  higher 
than  the  highest  point  of  the  rock  itself 

The  structure  was  of  timber  combined  with  courses  of  Cornish  granite,  so 
far  as  the  basement  went  :  first  two  courses  of  timber,  then  five  courses  of 
granite,  then  two  more  of  timber,  and  so  on — the  whole  being  secured  with  iron 
bolts  and  cramps.  On  this  substructure,  which  atttained  a  height  of  sixty-three 
feet,  were  four  storeys  of  timber  capped  by  an  octagonal  lantern,  ten  feet  six 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  EDDYSTONE.  63 

inches  in  diameter.  The  total  height  was  ninety-two  feet  ;  the  stone  employed 
was  two  hundred  and  seventy  tons,  and  the  base  measured  twenty-three  feei: 
across.     The  work  was  finished  in  1709. 

It  lasted  long.  For  nearly  half  a  century  it  continued  to  keep  the  vessels 
off  the  deadly  reef,  and  then  it  perished  by  a  fate  which  its  constructor  could 
not  have  foreseen,  and  under  circumstances  to  the  full  as  tragic  as  those  sur- 
rounding the  death  of  Winstanley. 

On  the  2d  of  December,  1775,  it  was  standing,  to  all  appearance,  as  firm 
as  ever.  Some  trifling  repairs  had  been  made  in  the  course  of  the  sumnicr, 
but  the  workmen  engaged  had  finished  their  work  by  the  22d  of  August,  and 
had  returned  to  shore.  Since  then  the  relieving  boat  had  paid  many  visits  to 
the  rock,  and  found  all  well.  Indeed,  only  the  morning  before  (December  ist) 
it  had  been  and  landed  stores,  when  the  light-keepers  made  no  manner  of  com- 
plaint. All  was  right,  they  said,  except  that  one  or  two  bricks  in  the  kitchen 
fireplace  had  been  loosened  by  a  late  storm. 

There  were  three  light-keepers  in  the  tower  at  the  time.  At  about  two 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  one  whose  turn  it  was  to  watch  entered  the 
lantern,  as  usual,  to  snuff  the  candles,  and  found  the  whole  place  in  a  smoke. 
To  let  the  smoke  escape  he  ran  to  the  door  leading  to  the  balcony  and  flung 
it  open.  Immediately  a  flame  burst  forth  from  the  inside  of  the  cupola.  He 
shouted  to  his  comrades,  but  they  were  fast  asleep  in  bed,  and  could  not  hear 
him.  The  fellow,  now  thoroughly  alarmed,  bethought  him  of  the  leather  buck- 
ets always  kept  in  the  lighthouse,  and  the  tub  of  water  that  stood  in  the  lantern, 
and  attempted  to  extinguish  the  flame  by  throwing  water  from  the  balcony 
upon  the  coating  of  lead  which  covered  the  cupola. 

At  last  his  cries  awakened  his  comrades,  and  they  hurried  up  to  assist.  He 
encouraged  them  to  fetch  up  water  from  the  sea  in  the  leather  buckets.  But 
to  do  this  they  had  to  descend  full  seventy  feet,  and  reascend  with  each  pair 
of  buckets  ;  and  when  we  reckon  the  quantity  that  must  needs  be  spilt  in  such 
a  hurry  and  scramble,  it  may  be  imagined  that  the  work  of  extinguishing  the 
fire  would  go  on  but  slowly. 

Indeed,  the  flames  gathered  strength  with  every  moment.  The  poor  stream 
of  water,  which  the  unfortunate  man  had  to  throw  full  four  yards  higher  than 
his  own  head,  was  of  little  service.  He  was  fighting  every  inch,  however,  when 
his  labours  were  cut  short  by  a  remarkable  accident. 

He  was  looking  upward  and  straining  his  eyes  to  mark  the  direction  and 
success  of  the  water  thrown.  In  such  an  attitude  the  mouth  is  naturally  a 
little  open.  At  that  moment  a  quantity  of  lead,  molten  by  the  heat,  suddenly 
poured  down  in  a  silvery  cascade  from  the  roof  and  fell,  not  only  on  the  man's 
head  and  face  and  shoulders,  but  over  his  clothes  ;  and  a  part  of  it  even  made 
its  way  between  his  neck  and  his  collar,  horribly  scalding  his  throat  and 
shoulders.  From  this  moment  the  poor  fellow  felt  convinced,  from  the  violent 
internal  sensation  that  accompanied  his  other  agonies,   that  a  quantity  of  lead 


64  THE  STORY  OF  THE  EDDYSTONE. 

had  dropped  into  his  mouth,  passed  down  his  throat,  and  settled  in  his  body. 
But  of  this  there  will  be  more  to  tell  presently. 

"  As  every  attempt  " — says  Smeaton  in  his  "Narrative" —  "had  proved  in- 
effectual, and  the  rage  of  the  flames  was  increasing,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
that  the  terror  and  dismay  of  the  three  men  increased  in  proportion  ;  so  that 
they  all  found  themselves  intimidated,  and  glad  to  make  their  retreat  from  that 
immediate  scene  of  horror  into  one  of  the  rooms  below,  where  they  would  find 
themselves  precluded  from  doing  anything,  for  had  they  thrown  ever  so  much 
water  there,  it  could  not  have  extinguished  the  fire  that  was  burning  abo\e 
them,  nor  indeed  produce  any  other  effect  than  of  running  down  into  the 
rooms  below  ;  and  thence,  finally,  through  the  staircase  back  again  into  the  sea 
They  seem,  therefore,  to  have  had  no  other  recourse  or  means  of  retreat  than 
that  of  retiring  downwards  from  room  to  room,  as  the  fire  advanced  over 
their  heads." 

Early  that  morning  the  fire  was  perceived  by  some  of  the  Cawsand  fishermen, 
and  intelligence  carried  to  a  Mr.  Edwards,  of  Rame,  in  that  neighbourhood — "a 
gentleman  of  some  fortune  and  more  humanity."  He  immediately  sent  out  a 
fishing-boat  and  men  to  the  relief. 

Mr.  Edwards'  boat  reached  the  reef  at  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
By  this  time  the  fire  had  been  burning  eight  hours,  and  the  three  keepers 
were  not  only  driven  from  all  the  rooms  and  the  staircase,  but  to  avoid  the 
falling  of  timber,  red-hot  bolts,  and  other  debris,  had  been  driven  to  hide 
themselves  in  a  hole  or  cave  on  the  east  side  of  the  rock  under  the  iron  ladder, 
where,  in  a  state  of  stupor,  they  awaited  deliverance.  Had  the  tide  been  high, 
even  this  slight  shelter  would  have  been  denied  them. 

The  wind  was  easterly,  not  blowing  very  fresh,  but  sufficiently  hard  to  make 
a  landing  at  the  proper  landing-place  (which  is  upon  the  east  side  of  the  rock) 
quite  impracticable.  How  were  the  men  to  be  taken  off.'*  for  the  ground-swell 
on  the  western  side  would  allow  of  no  landing  upon  its  slippery  surface.  At 
length  an  expedient  was  hit  upon.  Having  a  small  boat  with  them,  they 
moored  their  principal  boat,  by  a  grapnel,  to  the  westward,  coming  as  near  the 
rock  as  they  durst.  Then,  launching  their  small  boat,  they  rowed  it  towards 
the  rock,  veering  out  a  rope,  which  they  had  fastened  to  the  large  boat,  till 
they  were  near  enough  to  throw  a  small  coil  of  rope  upon  the  rock.  The 
men  on  the  rock  caught  it,  bound  it  round  their  waists,  and  jumping  into  the 
sea,  were  towed  into  the  small  boat  and  thence  delivered  into  the  large  one. 

At  this  point  we  may  again  take  up  the  words  of  the  *'  Narrative  "  : —  "As 
they  found  that  it  was  out  of  their  power  to  do  any  further  service,  this  boat 
hastened  to  Plymouth  to  get  the  men  relieved.  No  sooner,  however,  were  they 
set  on  shore  than  one  of  them  made  off,  and  has  never  since  been  heard  of: 
which  would,  on  the  first  blush,  induce  one  to  suppose  there  was  something 
culpable  in  the  man  ;  and  if  it  had  been  a  house  on  shore,  one  would  have  been 
tempted  to  suspect  he  had  been  guilty  of  some  foul  play.     But  the  circumstance 


XHB    BURNING     LIGHTHOUSE. 


66  THE  STORY  OF  THE  EDDYSTONE 

of  its  being  a  lighthouse,  situated  so  as  to  afford  no  retreat  in  the  power  of  its 
inhabitants  seems  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  its  being  done  wilfully,  as  he 
must  know  he  must  perish,  or  be  in  extreme  danger  of  so  doing  at  least,  along 
with  the  rest.  I  would  therefore  rather  impute  his  sudden  flight  to  that  kind 
of  panic  which  sometimes  on  important  occasions  seizes  weak  minds,  making 
them  act  without  reason,  and  in  so  doing  commit  actions  the  very  reverse  in 
tendency  of  what  they  mean  them  to  have,  and  of  which  they  have  afterwards 
reason  to  repent.  The  man  already  described  to  have  suffered  so  much  by  the 
molten  lead  was  sent  to  his  own  house  at  Stonehouse,  a  village  near  the  place 
where  they  landed. 

"  It  was  not  long  after  the  alarm  was  made  at  Cawsand  that  the  dreadful 
news  reached  Plymouth  ;  and  as,  from  the  composition  of  the  structure,  it  was 
thought  that  a  considerable  part  of  it  might  be  saved,  at  least  of  the  founda- 
tion, endeavours  were  not  wanting  for  that  purpose  ;  for  Mr.  Alderman  Tolcher, 
the  agent  and  collector  of  the  duties,  who  was  a  perfect  enthusiast  for  the  wel- 
fare of  the  lighthouse,  and  his  son,  Mr.  Joseph  Tolcher,  immediately  went  out  to 
sea  :  Both  gentlemen  were  ever,  but  then  more  than  ever,  indefatigable  in  their 
endeavours  for  its  preservation.  When  they  came  there,  alas  !  what  could 
they  do  ?  There  was  no  landing,  except  at  the  imminent  hazard  of  their  lives  ; 
and  if  landed  they  could  not  do  anything.  They  could  therefore  only  have 
the  supreme  mortification  to  behold  that  after  the  rooms  and  all  the  upper 
works  were  totally  destroyed,  the  fire  was  rapidly  communicating  itself  to  the 
solid  ;  and  there  being  many  beds  of  solid  timber  above  all  the  stone,  their  con- 
nection with  those  below,  by  means  of  the  mast  and  stairs  in  the  well-hole,  and 
by  the  upright  timbers  on  the  outside,  would  not  suffer  a  doubt  to  remain  that, 
after  such  a  mass  of  fire  was  generated  above,  it  would  gradually  communicate 
itself  to  the  beds  of  timber  interposed  between  those  of  stone,  and  by  that 
means  consume  the  whole. 

"The  late  worthy  Admiral  West,  who  then  lay  with  a  fleet  in  Plymouth 
Sound,  on  hearing  of  the  accident,  immediately  sent  out  a  sloop,  properly 
manned,  with  a  boat  and  an  engine  therein,  which  also  carried  out  Mr.  Jessop, 
the  surveyor.  This  vessel  also  arrived  early  in  the  day  on  which  the  fire 
happened.  In  endeavouring  to  make  a  landing  of  the  engine,  on  the  west  side, 
it  being  then  about  low  water,  the  boatmen  and  engine  were  at  once  tossed 
upon  the  rock  by  the  wave,  which  on  its  retreat  left  them  thereon  ;  and  before 
the  engine  was  got  out  of  the  boat  another  wave  came,  set  them  afloat,  and 
swept  them  back  again  to  their  former  situation.  British  tars  are  not  dismayed 
with  small  matters  ;  however,  this  accident  sufficiently  taught  them  to  be 
thankful  to  escape  with  their  lives,  and  to  make  no  further  attempt  to  land  ; 
yet  they,  notwithstanding,  tried  to  play  the  engine  from  the  boat  ;  but  the 
agitation  of  the  sea  near  the  rock  was  such  that  they  very  soon  broke  the 
engine-pipe.  And  so  ended  this  well-meant  expedition,  in  a  total  dis- 
appointment." 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  EDDYSTONE.  67 

In  fact,  the  lighthouse  was  burnt  to  the  rock  ;  indeed,  before  very  long  the 
interposed  beds  of  timber  heated  the  granite  courses  in  their  turn,  until  the 
whole  became  one  huge  mass  of  red-hot  matter.  It  was  not  until  the  7th,  five 
days  from  the  outbreak  of  the  fire,  that  the  joint  action  of  wind,  wave,  and 
fire  completed  the  catastrophe,  and  left  no  other  relics  of  Rudyard's  structure 
than  the  bare  iron  cramps  and  branches  that  still  stood  upright  from 
the  rock. 

To  return  to  Hall,  the  unhappy  man  whom  the  lead  had  scalded.  On  his 
arrival  ashore  he  still  persisted  in  his  story  that  some  of  the  liquefied  metal 
had  passed  down  his  throat.  The  doctors  roundly  declared  this  impossible,  and 
began  to  think  that  the  terrors  of  the  fire  had  rendered  the  man  a  mono- 
maniac. But  he  grew  rapidly  worse,  and  after  lingering  twelve  days,  ex- 
pired at  last  in  terrible  convulsions,  A  post-mortem  examination  proved  the 
truth  of  his  strange  assertion,  for  in  the  stomach  was  found  a  flat,  oval-shaped 
piece  of  lead,  seven  ounces  and  five  drachms  in  weight. 

So  perished  the  second  Eddystone  Light.  But  before  we  leave  Rudyard's 
lighthouse,  we  may  mention  a  story  or  two  connected  with  it. 

It  appears  that  for  some  time  after  the  establishment  of  the  lighthouse,  two 
men  only  at  a  time  attended  to  it  ;  indeed,  the  duty  required  no  more,  for 
beyond  keeping  the  windows  of  the  lantern  clean — and,  in  general,  the  rooms — 
there  was  nothing  to  attend  to  but  the  alternate  watch  of  four  hours  each,  to 
snuff  and  renew  the  candles,  each  man  at  the  end  of  his  watch  taking  care  to 
call  and  arouse  the  other.  It  happened,  however,  that  one  of  the  men  was 
taken  ill  and  died,  and  although  the  survivor  hoisted  a  distress-signal,  the 
weather  was  so  bad  that  no  boat  could  approacli  the  rock  to  relieve  him.  Thus 
placed,  the  man  found  himself  in  an  awkward  dilemma.  He  might  dispose  of 
the  body  by  tumbling  it  into  the  sea,  but  how  if  he  were  charged  with 
murdering  his  comrade  .''  This  apprehension  led  him  for  some  time  to  let  the 
dead  body  lie,  in  hopes  that  the  boat  might  be  able  to  land  and  relieve  him.  By 
degrees  the  body  became  so  offensive  that  it  was  not  in  his  power,  without  help, 
to  get  rid  of  it.  It  was  near  a  month  before  the  relief  party  could  effect  a 
landing,  and  then  only  at  hazard  of  their  lives.  They  found  the  body,  of 
course,  in  a  hideous  state  of  decomposition,  and  the  survivor  utterly  worn  out 
with  want  of  sleep  and  the  other  horrors  of  his  plight.  After  this  a  third  man 
was  employed — a  regulation  which  not  only  provided  against  accidents,  but  also 
afforded  the  light-keepers  a  seasonable  relief ;  for  in  summer,  in  their  turns, 
they  were  allowed  each  to  go  on  shore  and  spend  a  month  among  their  friends 
and  acquaintances. 

Here  is  another  story  of  the  time  Avhen  two  men  only  kept  watch  : —  Certain 
visitors  who  had  seized  the  opportunity  of  a  still  summer  day  to  come  and 
look  at  the  lighthouse,  observed  to  one  of  the  men  that  it  must  be  very  cosy 
and  comfortable  to  live  in  such  a  state  of  retirement.  "Yes,"  said  the  fellow, 
"very  comfortable  indeed,  if  we  could  only  have  the  use  of  our  tongues.      But 


68  THE  STORY  OF  THE  EDDYSTONE. 

it  is  now  a  full  month  since  my  comrade  and  I  have  spoken  to  each  other." 
And  we  are  assured  that  he  spoke  the  truth.  It  seems  that  the  pair  would 
seldom  stay  in  a  room  together.  If  one  sat  above,  the  other  was  found  below  ; 
and  their  very  meals  were  solitary,  each,  like  a  brute,  carrying  off  his  food  and 
growling  over  it  in  a  corner  alone.  And  yet  there  was  no  lack  of  candidates 
when  the  lightkeeper's  post  fell  vacant.  Smeaton  relates  an  anecdote  to 
show  how  widely  the  opinions  of  men  may  differ  concerning  the  nature  of 
seclusion.  A  certain  cobbler  who  had  obtained  the  post,  and  was  being  carried 
out  to  the  rock  by  the  relief  boat,  was  asked  :  "  How  comes  it  that  you,  who 
can  earn  your  hali-crown  and  three  shillings  a  day  in  making  shoes,  should 
choose  to  be  a  light-keeper,  with  a  pay  of  but  £2i,  a  year,  which  is  scarce  ten 
shillings  a  week.?"  "Why,  'tis  just  this,"  answered  the  shoe-maker:  "I've 
got  tired  of  confinement." 

Though  two  light-houses  had  disappeared  off  the  Eddystone  reef,  the 
Trinity  House  Corporation  lost  little  time  in  trying  again.  They  were  fortunate 
in  the  selection  of  their  architect — one  John  Smeaton,  a  maker  of  mathematical 
instruments,  and  a  promising  engineer.  Smeaton  at  the  time  was  thirty-two 
years  of  age,  a  man  prompt,  patient,  full  of  resource,  and  absolutely  indefatig- 
able in  the  face  of  difficulty.  The  Trinity  Board  has  been  fortunate  in  its 
servants,  but  never  has  it  had  a  brighter  inspiration  than  that  which  led  it  to 
put  the  construction  of  the  new  Eddystone  Light  into  this  man's  hands. 

Almost  as  soon  as  he  began  to  examine  the  task  before  him,  Smeaton  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  two  former  buildings  had  lacked  weight ;  and  that, 
even  if  spared  by  fire,  Rudyard's  lighthouse  could  not  much  longer  hnve  held 
out  against  the  storms  of  the  Channel.  Consequently  his  first  care  was  to  design 
a  building  so  massive  that  the  sea  should  give  way  to  it  ;  and  as  a  further 
consequence  he  determined  to  employ  stone  only,  He  adopted  Rudyard's  con- 
ception of  a  cy«zV<a:/ building,  but  proposed  to  enlarge  the  diameter  considerably. 
The  type  which  he  kept  before  him  throughout  was  that  of  an  oak-tree,  which 
neither  bends  nor  is  broken  before  the  tempest.  Further,  whereas  his  two 
predecessors  had  lost  much  valuable  time  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  landing  on 
the  reef,  Smeaton  proposed  to  moor  a  vessel  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  his 
scene  of  operations,  sufficiently  large  to  accommodate  his  workmen,  so  that 
instead  of  wasting  hours  in  voyaging  to  Plymouth  and  back,  they  might  be 
able  to  seize  every  opportune  moment. 

The  work  began  in  the  autumn  of  1756 — less  than  a  year  after  the  fire — with 
the  transport  of  stone  and  other  materials  to  the  rock,  in  shaping  them,  and  in 
cutting  out  the  steps  or  stages  to  receive  the  foundations. 

In  June,  1757,  the  building  began.  The  first  stone,  in  weight  two  tons  and 
a  quarter,  was  laid  on  the  12th,  and  the  first  course,  of  four  huge  stones,  was 
finished  on  the  following  day.  This  small  number  of  stones  was,  of  course, 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  sloping  rock  itself  afforded  the  major  part  of  the 
foundation.     The  second  course,   containing  thirteen   granite  blocks,  was   laid 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  EDDYSTONE. 


69 


by  the  30th;  the  third,  containing-  twenty-five  blocks,  by  the  lith  of  July; 
the  fourth,  of  thirty-three  blocks,  by  the  31st.  On  the  nth  of  August  the  sixth 
course  was  completed,  and  the  structure  rose  above  high-watermark.  The 
blocks  were  ingeniously  dovetailed  together,  so  as  to  form,  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  one  uninterrupted  ring  of  stone. 

From  this  time  Smeaton  might  regard  his  chief  difficulties  as  surmounted, 
and  above  the  reach  of 
the  waves  the  work  went 
on  merrily.  Unfortun- 
ately it  came  near  to  be- 
ing interrupted  by  an 
accident  to  its  engineer. 

Smeaton  had  superin- 
tended the  laying  of  the 
foundations  with  the 
most  tireless  care  ;  and 
now  in  a  moment  of 
elation  he  could  not  de- 
ny himself  a  stroll  upon 
the  platform  thus  erected 
above  the  waves.  As 
luck  would  have  it,  how- 
ever, he  made  a  false 
step,  falling  over  the 
brink  of  the  masonry  on 
to  the  sloping  rocks  of  f 
the  western  side.  It 
was  low  water  at  the 
time,  and  having  re- 
ceived no  serious  injury 
he  was  able  to  scramble 
up  again.  He  had  dis- 
located his  thumb,  how- 
ever ;  but  this,  as  no 
doctor  was  near,  he  reset  himself,  and  quietly  returned  to  his  work  as  if  nothing 
had  happened, 

The  year's  work  was  finished  on  September  30th,  with  the  laying  of  the 
ninth  course. 

On  the  I2th  of  May,  1758,  Smeaton  and  his  workmen  returned  to  the  reef, 
and  to  their  great  delight  found  that  the  storms  of  the  winter  had  scarcely  hurt 
their  work.  The  cement  (made  of  the  lime  of  Watchet,  whence  it  had  been 
brought  in  cider- casks,  since  the  proprietors  would  not  allow  it  to  be  exported 
in  Its  crude  state)  had  become  as  hard  as  the  stone  itself,  and  the  foundation 


"HE   MADE   A   FALSE   STEP.' 


70  THE  STORY  OF  THE  EDDYSTONE. 

seemed  unshakable.  Rapid  progress  was  made,  and  the  twenty-fourth  course 
was  laid  by  September,  as  it  was  all-important  to  be  able  to  show  a  light  during 
the  tempests  of  the  coming  winter.  Preparations  for  setting  up  a  temporary 
lantern  were  almost  completed,  when  on  October  loth  the  work  was  inter- 
rupted by  a  quarrel  between  the  Trinity  House  Corporation  and  the  lessee  of 
the  rock.  This  quarrel  was  not  patched  up  until  well  into  the  following  year, 
when  on  July  5th  the  work  was  started  again.  On  the  17th  of  August  the 
main  column  of  the  lighthouse  was  completed,  consisting  of  forty-six  courses, 
and  rising  to  a  height  of  seventy  feet  On  the  last  stone  set  above  the  lantern 
the  masons  carved  the  two  words  LAVS  DEO  ("Praise  be  to  God  !"),  the  most 
fitting  superscription  for  a  work  so  bravely  and  modestly  done.  Soon  after  the 
iron  balcony  and  the  lantern  itself  were  put  in  place,  and  on  the  i6th  of 
October  once  more  the  merciful  light  shone  out  above  the  Eddystone  reef. 

For  more  than  century  and  a  quarter  it  continued  to  shine  from  Smeaton's 
tower.  The  designer  himself  had  spoken,  indeed,  of  a  "  possible  perpetuity" 
for  his  work.  It  has  won  its  perpetuity,  but  not  as  the  speaker  expected 
perhaps. 

From  1870  onwards,  reports  from  time  to  time  reached  the  Brethren  of  the 
Trinity  House  that  certain  tremors  and  oscillations  had  been  noticed  by  the 
light-keepers  in  Smeaton's  tower.  In  consequence,  steps  were  taken  to 
strengthen  the  whole  upper  portion  of  the  building  with  iron  ties  ;  the  outer 
joints,  too,  were  repointed  with  Portland  cement,  some  of  the  courses  re-bolted, 
and  the  projection  of  the  cornice,  which  was  found  to  catch  the  upward  stroke  of 
the  waves,  reduced  by  five  inches. 

Still,  however,  the  oscillations  were  felt  from  time  to  time,  especially  during 
the  sou'-westerly  gales,  and  it  became  evident  that  the  stability  of  the  tower 
was  failing.  Accordingly,  in  1877,  Admiral  Sir  Richard  Collinson,  the  Deputy 
Master,  and  some  of  the  Elder  Brethren  of  the  Trinity  House  accompanied  by 
their  engineer,  Mr.  James  N.  Douglas,  made  a  searching  inspection  of  the  tower 
and  rock. 

The  inspections  showed  that  the  weakness  lay,  not  in  Smeaton's  tower,  but 
in  the  rock  itself,  which  was  being  slowly  undermined  by  the  waves.  Indeed,  a 
large  wedge  had  already  been  detached,  which  had  thrown  a  severe  strain  upon 
the  rest  of  the  foundation.  The  tower  itself  was  strong  enough  to  stand, 
perhaps,  for  another  century. 

On  realising  the  extent  of  the  mischief,  the  Brethren  decided  that  immediate 
steps  should  be  taken  to  build  a  new  tower  on  another  and  more  stable 
foundation.  The  fate  of  Winstanley's  tower  had  been  terrible  enough  ;  but 
another  such  catastrophe  would  be  infinitely  more  calamitous,  as  the  number  of 
passing  vessels  had  vastly  increased. 

Many  careful  surveys  were  made,  and  a  base  for  the  new  lighthouse  was  at 
length  found   on   a  rock   some   forty   yards    distant  from   the   old   tower,   in   a 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  EDDY  STONE.  71 

south-south-cast  direction.  There  was  but  one  drawback  ;  the  top  of  the 
selected  rock  was  only  just  above  the  level  of  low  water,  and  the  foundations 
had  therefore  to  be  laid  below  that  level.  The  difficulty,  however,  could  be 
overcome,  and  the  task  of  designing  a  worthy  successor  to  Smeaton's  light  was 
placed  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  J.  N.  Douglass,  the  engineer  who  had  conducted 
the  first  inspection. 

Again  the  Brethren  were  most  fortunate  in  the  man  of  their  choice.  The 
first  landing  on  the  rock  was  made  on  the  17th  of  July,  1878,  and  five  others 
before  the  month  was  out.  The  actual  work  on  the  rock  commenced  on  July  23d. 
The  operations  of  the  season  were  entirely  successful,  only  a  few  small  stones 
being  carried  away  by  the  sea,  and  were  prolonged  until  December  21st,  when 
labour  was  suspended  for  the  winter. 

The  most  perilous  time,  of  course,  was  that  during  which  the  men  worked 
below  the  low-water  level.  They  could  never  spend  more  than  three  consecutive 
hours  upon  the  rock  ;  in  other  words,  their  stay  was  limited  to  the  interval 
betAveen  three-quarters  ebb  and  three-quarters  flood.  On  the  19th  of  August, 
1879,  the  foundation-stone  was  laid  ;  and  the  second  season  closed  on 
December  19th,  with  eight  courses  laid. 

The  winter  was  severe,  and  when  on  February  25th,  1880,  the  first  visit  for 
the  year  was  made,  there  was  much  apprehension  lest  the  storms  should  have 
wrought  havoc  with  the  work  ;  but  it  was  found  that,  beyond  the  loss  of  the 
iron  jib  of  the  landing-crane,  no  damage  had  been  done.  The  building  went 
on  briskly,  and  the  tower  rose  above  the  level  of  high  water.  Henceforward,  a 
longer  time  could  be  spent  upon  the  rock,  and  the  result  was  that  the  season 
closed  with  the  laying  of  the  thirty-eigth  course. 

On  the  first  of  June,  1882,  H.  R.  H.  the  Duke  of  Edinburgh  laid  the  top 
stone  of  Douglass's  tower. 

The  main  idea  of  Smeaton's  structure  was  preserved,  but  the  improvements 
upon  it  were  numerous.  Smeaton's  tower  contained  but  988  tons  of  masonry. 
The  new  tower  held  4,668  tons.  The  stones  were  2,171  in  number,  containing 
63,020  cubic  feet, — a  mass  in  itself  probably  sufficient  to  withstand  the  tempest  ; 
but  to  make  everything  safe  each  stone  is  dovetailed  above,  below,  and  on  all 
sides,  to  the  stones  adjoining,  and  is  in  addition  securely  cemented.  Smeaton's 
tower  contained  four  rooms  in  addition  to  the  lantern  ;  in  the  new  lighthouse 
there  are  nine,  each  more  commodious  than  any  in  the  old  building.  The  light 
in  the  new  tower  can  be  seen  at  a  distance  of  seventeen  and  a  half  miles, 
exceeding  by  four  and  a  half  miles  the  distance  at  which  the  light  in 
Smeaton's  tower  was  visible. 

Four  keepers  are  attached  to  the  lighthouse,  but  three  only  are  kept  on  duty 
at  a  time.  Each  man  has  six  weeks  at  the  rock,  followed  by  a  fortnight  ashore  ; 
and  every  fortnight,  if  the  weather  permits,  the  relief  boat  goes  out  to  the 
Eddystone,  taking  with  her  the  man  who  has  been  keeping  holiday,  and 
bringing  back  the  man  who  has  kept  his  six  weeks  of  watch. 


72 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  EDDYSTONE 


The  old  building  was  taken  carefully  to  pieces,  and  has  since  been  re-erected 
on  Plymouth  Hoe.  There  it  may  honorably  realise  that  "  possible  perpetuity  " 
of  which  Smeaton  dreamed.  But  the  true  perpetuity  of  that  man's  work  will 
be  found  in  the  tower  which  Douglass  has  erected — that  is,  in  the  outgrowth, 
under  worthy  hands,  of  the  magnificent  type  which  he  bequeathed.  A  future 
generation  may  in  turn  build  another  tower  ;  but  should  the  new  Eddystone 
Lighthouse  fall  short  of  perfection  in  the  eyes  of  another  age,  the  criticism  will 
yet  allow  that  the  progress  has  been  on  the  road  to  perfection  ;  and  meanwhile 
the  light  on  the  Eddystone  reef  will  shine  unquenched  and  beneficent. 


THE  NEW   EDDYSTONE   I  IGHTHOUSE, 


73 


AN   ADVENTURE   IN    SPAIN. 

HE  following  narative,  which  treats  of  an  adventure  in  one  of  the 
wildest  districts  of  Spain,  we  have  the  permission  of  Mr.  Murray  to 
extract  from  "  The  Bible  in  Spain,"  by  George  Borrow  : 

In  order  to  direct  my  course  to  the  Asturias,  I  crossed  the  bay 
from  Coruna  to  Ferrol,  whilst  Antonio  with  our  remaining  horse  followed  by 
land,  a  rather  toilsome  and  circuitous  journey,  although  the  distance  by  water 
is  scarcely  three  leagues.  At  Ferrol  I  waited  two  or  three  days  for  the  arrival 
of  Antonio,  and  still  he  came  not ;  late  in  the  evening,  however,  as  I  was  look- 
ing down  the  street,  I  perceived  him  advancing,  leading  our  only  horse  by  the 
bridle.  He  informed  me  that  about  three  leagues  from  Coruna,  the  heat  of  the 
weather  and  the  flies  had  so  distressed  the  animal  that  it  had  fallen  down  in  a 
kind  of  fit,  from  which  it  had  been  only  relieved  by  copious  bleeding,  on  which 
account  he  had  been  compelled  to  halt  for  a  day  upon  the  road.  The  horse  was 
evidently  in  a  very  feeble  state,  and  had  a  strange  rattling  in  its  throat,  which 
alarmed  me  at  first.  I  however  administered  some  remedies,  and  in  a  few  days 
deemed  him  sufficiently  recovered  to  proceed. 

We  accordingly  started  from  Ferrol,  having  first  hired  a  pony  for  myself, 
and  a  guide  who  was  to  attend  us  as  far  as  Rivadeo,  twenty  leagues  from 
Ferrol,  and  on  the  confines  of  the  Asturias,  The  day  at  first  was  fine  ;  but  ere 
we  reached  Novales,  a  distance  of  three  leagues,  the  sky  became  overcast,  and 
a  mist  descended,  accompanied  by  a  drizzling  rain.  The  country  through  which 
we  passed  was  very  picturesque.  At  about  two  in  the  afternoon  we  could 
descry  through  the  mist  the  small  fishing-town  of  Santa  Marta  on  our  left, 
with  its  beautiful  bay.  Travelling  along  the  summit  of  a  line  of  hills,  we 
presently  entered  a  chestnut  forest,  which  appeared  to  be  without  limit.  The 
rain  still  descended,  and  kept  up  a  ceaseless  pattering  among  the  broad 
green  leaves. 

"  This  is  the  commencement  of  the  autumnal  rains,"  said  the  guide.  "  Many 
is  the  wetting  that  you  will  get,  my  masters,  before  you  reach  Oviedo." 

"  Have  you  ever  been  as  far  as  Oviedo  .-• "  I  demanded, 

"  No,  he  replied,  "  and  only  once  to  Rivadeo,  the  place  to  which  I  am  now 
conducting  you  ;  and  I  tell  you  frankly  that  we  shall  soon  be  in  wildernesses 
where  the  way  is  hard  to  find,  especially  at  night,  and  amidst  rain  and  waters. 
I  wish  I  were  fairly  back  to  Ferrol,  for  I  like  not  this  route,  which  is  the 
worst  in  Galicia,  in  more  respects  than  one  ;  but  where  my  pony's  master  goes, 
there  must  I  go  too  ;  such  is  the  life  of  us  guides  " 


iw^^ew^fewms^ 


74  AN  ADVENTURE  IN  SPAIN. 

I  shrugged  my  shoulders  at  this  intelligence,  which  was  by  no  means 
cheering,  but  made  no  answer.  At  length,  about  nightfall,  we  emerged  from 
the  forest,  and  presently  descended  into  a  deep  valley  at  the  foot  of  lofty  hills. 

"  Where  are  we  now  ?  "  I  demanded  of  the  guide,  as  we  crossed  a  rude 
bridge  at  the  bottom  of  the  valley  down  which  a  rivulet,  swollen  by  the  rain, 
foamed  and  roared. 

"  In  the  valley  of  Coisa  Doiro,"  he  replied  ;  "and  it  is  my  advice  that  we 
stay  here  for  the  night,  and  do  not  venture  among  those  hills,  through  which 
lies  the  path  to  Viviero  ;  for  as  soon  as  we  get  there,  adios  !  I  shall  be 
bewildered,  which  will  prove  the  destruction  of  us  all." 

"  Is  there  a  village  nigh  ? " 

"  Yes  ;  the  village  is  right  before  us,  and  we  shall  be  there  in  a  moment." 

We  soon  reached  the  village,  which  stood  amongst  some  tall  trees  at  the 
entrance  of  a  pass  which  led  up  amongst  the  hills.  Antonio  dismounted,  and 
entered  two  or  three  of  the  cabins,  but  presently  came  to  me  saying — 

"  We  cannot  stay  here,  tnon  maiire,  without  being  devoured  by  vermin  : 
we  had  better  be  amongst  the  hills  than  this  place  ;  there  is  neither  fire 
nor  light  in  these  cabins,  and  the  rain  is  streaming  through  the  roofs." 

The  guide,  however,  refused  to  proceed.  "  I  could  scarcely  find  my  way 
amongst  these  hills  by  daylight,"  he  cried  surlily,  "  much  less  at  night,  'midst 
storm  and  bretima''  We  procured  some  wine  and  maize  bread  from  one  of  the 
cottages.     Whilst  we  were  partaking  of  these,  Antonio  said — 

"  Mon  viaitrc,  the  best  thing  we  can  do  in  our  present  situation  is  to  hire 
some  fellow  of  this  village  to  conduct  us  through  the  hills  to  Viveiro.  There 
are  no  beds  in  this  place,  and  if  wc  lie  down  in  the  litter  in  our  damp  clothes, 
we  shall  catch  a  tertia  of  Galicia.  Our  present  guide  is  of  no  service;  we 
must  therefore  find  another  to  do  his  duty." 

Without  waiting  for  a  reply,  he  flung  down  the  crust  of  broa  which  he 
was  munching,  and  disappeared.  I  subsequently  learned  that  he  went  to  the 
cottage  of  the  alcade,  and  demanded,  in  the  Queen's  name,  a  guide  for  the 
Greek  Ambassador,  who  was  benighted  on  his  way  to  the  Asturias.  In  about 
ten  minutes  I  again  saw  him,  attended  by  the  local  functionary,  who,  to  my 
surprise,  made  me  a  profound  bow,  and  stood  bareheaded  in  the  rain. 

"  Mis  excellency,"  shouted  Antonia,  "  is  in  need  of  a  guide  to  Viveiro.  People 
of  our  description  are  not  compelled  to  pay  for  any  service  which  they  may 
require  ;  however,  as  his  excellency  has  bowels  of  compassion,  he  is  willing  to 
give  three  pesetas  to  any  competent  person  who  will  accompany  him  to  Viveiro, 
and  as  much  bread  and  wine  as  he  can  eat  and  drink  on  his  arrival." 

"  His  excellency  shall  be  served,"  said  the  alcade  ;  "  however,  as  the  way  is 
long  and  the  path  is  bad,  and  there  is  much  bretitna  amongst  the  hills,  it 
appears  to  me  that,  besides  the  bread  and  wine,  his  excellency  can  do  no  less 
than  offer  {owx  pesetas  to  the  guide  who  may  be  willing  to  accompany  him  to 
Viveiro  ;  and  I  know  no  one  better  than  my  own  son-iii-l.iw,  Juanito." 


AN    ADVENTURE    IN    SPAIN. 


75 


"  Content,  Senor  Alcalde,"  I  replied  ;  "  produce    the    guide,    and    the    extra 
peseta  shall  be  forthcoming,  in  due  season." 

Soon  apeared  Juanito,  with  a  lantern  in  his  hand.     We  instantly  set  forward. 
The  guides  began  conversing  in  Gallegan. 

'^  Moil  inaitre,"  said  Antonio,   "  this  new  scoundrel  is  asking  the  old  one  what 
he  thinks  we  have  in  our  portmanteaus."     Then,  without  awaiting   my  answer, 
he    shouted — "  Pistols,    ye 
barbarians  !  Pistols,     as 

you  shall  learn  to  your 
cost,  if  you  do  not  cease 
speaking  in  that  gibberish 
and  converse  in    Castilian." 

The  Gallegans  were 
silent,  and  presently  the 
first  guide  dropped  behind, 
whilst  the  other  with  the 
lantern  moved  before. 

"Keep  in  the  rear," 
said  Antonia  to  the  former, 
"  and  at  a  distance  :  know 
one  thing,  moreover,  that 
I  can  see  behind  as  well  as 
before.  Mo7i  matt  re,''  said 
he  to  me,  "  I  don't  suppose 
these  fellows  will  attempt 
to  do  us  any  harm,  more 
especially  as  they  do  not 
know  each  other  ;  it  is  well 
however,  to  separate  them, 
for  this  is  a  time  and  place 
which  might  tempt  any  one 
to  commit  robbery  and 
murder  too," 

The  rain  still  continued  to  fall  uninterruptedly,  the  path  was  rugged  and 
precipitous,  and  the  night  was  so  dark  that  we  could  only  see  indistinctly  the 
hills  which  surrounded  us.  Once  or  twice  our  guide  seemed  to  have  lost  his 
way  ;  he  stopped,  muttered  to  himself,  raised  his  lantern  on  high,  and  would 
then  walk  slowly  and  hesitatingly  forward.  In  this  manner  we  proceeded 
ior  three  or  four  hours,  when  I  asked  the  guide  how  far  we  were  from 
Viveiro. 

"  I  do  not  know  exactly  where  we  are,  your  worship,"  he  replied,  "  though  I 
believe  we  are  in  the  route.  We  can  scarcely,  however,  be  less  than  two  mad 
leagues  from  Viveiro." 


ON  THE   WAY. 


'TTSTTTrrT^rrTr- 


76  AN    ADVENTURE    IN    SPAIN. 

*'  Then  we  shall  not  arrive  there  before  morning,"  interrupted  Antonio,  "for 
a  mad  league  of  Galicia  means  at  least  two  of  Castile  ;  and  perhaps  we  are 
doomed  never  to  arrive  there,  if  the  way  thither  leads  down  this  precipice." 

As  he  spoke,  the  guide  seemed  to  descend  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth. 
"  Stop,"  said  I ;  "  where  are  you  going  .''  " 

"To  Viveiro,  Senor,"  replied  the  fellow  ;  "this  is  the  way  to  Viveiro,  there 
is  no  other  ;  I  now  know  where  we  are  " 

The  light  of  the  lantern  shone  upon  the  dark  red  features  of  the  guide,  who 
had  turned  round  to  reply,  as  he  stood  some  yards  down  the  side  of  a  dingle 
or  ravine  overgrown  with  thick  trees,  beneath  whose  leafy  branches  a  frightfully 
steep  path  descended.  I  dismounted  from  the  pony,  and  delivering  the  bridle 
to  the  other  guide,  said — 

"  Here  is  your  master's  horse  ;  if  you  please  you  may  lead  him  down  that 
abyss,  but  as  for  myself,  I  wash  my  hands  of  the  matter." 

The  fellow,  without  a  word  of  reply,  vaulted  into  the  saddle,  and  with  a 
"  Vamos,  Perico  !  "  to  the  pony,  impelled  the  creature  to  the  descent.  "  Come, 
Senor,"  said  he  with  the  lantern,  "  there  is  no  time  to  be  lost,  my  light  will  be 
presently  extinguished,  and  this  is  the  worst  bit  in  the  whole  road."  I  thought 
it  very  probable  that  he  was  about  to  lead  us  to  some  den  of  cut-throats, 
where  we  might  be  sacrificed  ;  but,  taking  courage,  I  seized  our  own  horse  by 
the  bridle,  and  followed  the  fellow  down  the  ravine  amidst  rocks  and  brambles. 
The  descent  lasted  nearly  ten  minutes,  and  ere  we  had  entirely  accomplished  it, 
the  light  in  the  lantern  went  out,  and  we  remained  in  total  darkness. 

Encouraged,  however,  by  the  guide,  who  assured  us  there  was  no  danger,  we 
at  length  reached  the  bottom  of  the  ravine  ;  here  we  encountered  a  rill  of 
water,  through  which  we  were  compelled  to  wade  as  high  as  the  knee.  In  the 
midst  of  the  water  I  looked  up  and  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  heavens  through 
the  branches  of  the  trees,  which  all  around  clothed  the  shelving  sides  of  the 
ravine,  and  completely  embowered  the  channel  of  the  stream  :  to  a  place  more 
strange  and  replete  with  gloom  and  horror,  no  benighted  traveller  ever  found 
his  way.  After  a  short  pause  we  commenced  scaling  the  opposite  bank,  which 
we  did  not  find  so  steep  as  the  other,  and  a  few  minutes'  exertion  brought  us 
to  the  top. 

Shortly  afterwards  the  rain  abated,  and  the  moon  arising  cast  a  dim  light 
through  the  watery  mists  ;  the  way  had  become  less  precipitous,  and  in  about 
two  hours  we  descended  to  the  shore  of  an  extensive  creek,  along  which  we 
proceeded  till  we  reached  a  spot  where  many  boats  and  barges  lay  with  their 
keels  upward  upon  the  sand.  Presently  we  beheld  before  us  the  walls  of  Viveiro, 
upon  which  the  moon  was  shedding  its  sickly  lustre.  We  entered  by  a 
lofty  and  seemingly  ruinous  archway,  and  the  guide  conducted  us  at  once 
to  the  posada. 

Every  person  in  Viveiro  appeared  to  be  buried  in  profound  slumber  ;  not 
so    much    as   a   dog    siluted  us  with    his    bark.      After    much   knocking   we 


AN  ADVEN'iURE  IN   SPAIN.  77 

were  admitted  into  the  posada,  a  large  and  dilapidated  edifice.  We  had 
scarcely  housed  ourselves  and  horses  when  the  rain  began  to  fall  with  much 
thunder  and  lightning.  Antonio  and  I,  exhausted  with  fatigue,  betook  our- 
selves to  flock  beds  in  a  ruined  chamber,  into  which  the  rain  penetrated 
through  many  a  cranny,  whilst  the  guides  ate  bread  and  drank  wine  till 
the  morning. 

When  I  arose  I  was  gladdened  by  the  sight  of  a  fine  day.  Antonio  forth- 
with prepared  a  savoury  breakfast  of  stewed  fowl,  of  which  we  stood  in  much 
need  after  the  ten-league  journey  of  the  preceding  day.  I  walked  out  to  view 
the  town,  which  consists  of  little  more  than  one  long  street,  on  the  side  of  a 
steep  mountain  thickly  clad  with  forest  and  fruit  trees.  At  about  ten  we 
continued  our  journey,  accompanied  by  our  first  guide,  the  other  having  returned 
to  Coisa  Doiro  some  hours  previously. 

Our  route  throughout  this  day  was  almost  constantly  within  sight  of  the 
Cantabrian  Sea,  whose  windings  we  followed.  The  country  was  barren,  and  in 
many  parts  covered  with  huge  stones  ;  cultivated  spots,  however,  were  to  be 
seen,  where  vines  were  growing.  We  met  with  but  few  human  habitations. 
We,  however,  journeyed  on  cheerfully,  for  the  sun  was  once  more  shining  in  full 
brightness,  gilding  the  wild  moors,  and  shining  upon  the  waters  of  the  distant 
sea,  which  lay  in  unruffled  calmness 

At  evening-fall  we  were  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  shore,  with  a  range 
of  well-covered  hills  on  our  right.  Our  guide  led  us  towards  a  creek  bordered 
by  a  marsh,  but  he  soon  stopped,  and  declared  that  he  did  not  know  whither 
he  was  conducting  us. 

"J/(?;/ ;;/^//r^,"  said  Antonio,  "  let  us  be  our  own  guide;  it  is,  as  you  see, 
of  no  use  to  depend  on  this  fellow,  whose  whole  science  consists  in  leading 
people  into  quagmires  " 

We  therefore  turned  aside,  and  proceeded  along  the  marsh  for  a  considerable 
distance,  till  we  reached  a  narrow  path  which  led  us  into  a  thick  wood,  where 
we  soon  became  completely  bewildered  On  a  sudden,  after  wandering  about  a 
considerable  time,  we  heard  the  noise  of  water,  and  presently  the  clack  of  a 
wheel.  Following  the  sound,  we  arrived  at  a  low  stone  mill,  built  over  a  brook  ; 
here  we  stopped  and  shouted,  but  no  answer  was  returned. 

"  The  place  is  deserted,"  said  Antonio  ;  "here,  however,  is  a  path,  which,  if 
we  follow  it,  will  doubtless  lead  us  to  some  human  habitation." 

So  we  went  along  the  path,  which  in  about  ten  minutes  brought  us  to  the 
door  of  a  cabin,  in  which  we  saw  light.  Antonio  dismounted  and  opened 
the  door.  "Is  there  any  one  here  who  can  conduct  us  to  Rivadeo  .'' "  he 
demanded. 

"  Senor,"  answered  a  voice,  "  Rivadeo  is  more  than  five  leagues  from  here, 
and,  moreover,  there  is  a  river  to  cross." 

"Then  to  the  next  village,"  said  Antonio. 

"I  am  a  vecino  of  the  next  village,  which  is  on  the  way  to  Rivadeo,"  said 


;  Hkii-^  W-  ■•ijK"'  'V.  liViii.i  '■  J  fjt^ 


78 


AN  ADVENTURE  IN  SPAIN. 


another  voice,  "  and  I  will  lead  you  thither,  if  you  will  give  me  fair  words  and, 
what  is  better,  fair  money." 

A  man  now  came  forth,  holding  in  his  hand  a  large  stick.  He  strode 
sturdily  before  us,  and  in  less  than  half  an  hour  led  us  out  of  the  wood  In 
another  half-hour  he  brought  us  to  a  group  of  cabins  situated  near  the  sea  : 
he  pointed  to  one  of  these,  and  having  received  a  peseta,  bade  us  farewell. 


CROSSINO   THE   F07,. 

The  people  of  the  cottage  willingly  consented  to  receive  ns  for  the  night  ; 
it  was  much  more  cleanly  and  commodious  than  the  wretched  huts  of  the 
Gallegan  peasantry  in  general.  The  ground  floor  consisted  of  a  keeping-room 
and  stable,  whilst  above  was  a  long  loft,  in  which  were  some  neat  and  comfort- 
able flock  beds.  I  observed  several  masts  and  sails  ol  boats.  The  family 
consisted  of  two  brothers,  with  their  wives  and  families  ;  one  was  a  fisherman, 
but  the  other,  who  appeared  to  be  the  principal  person,  informed  me  that  he 
had  resided  for  many  years  in  service ^t  Madrid,  and,  having  amassed  a  small 
sum,  he  had  at  length  returned  to  his  native  village,  where  he  had  purchased 
some  land  which  he  farmed.      All  the  family  used  the  Castilian  language  in 


AN  ADVENTURE  IN  SPAIN. 


79 


their  common  discourse,  and  on  inquiry  I  learned  that  the  Gallegan  was  not 
much  spoken  in  that  neighbourhood.  I  have  forgotton  the  name  of  this  village, 
which  is  situated  on  the  estuary  of  the  Foz,  which  rolls  down  from  Mondonedo. 
In  the  morning  we  crossed  this  estuary  in  a  large  boat,  with  our  horses,  and 
about  noon  arrived  at  Rivadeo. 

"Now,  your  worship,"  said  the  guide  who  had  accompanied  us  from  Ferrol, 
'•I  have  brought  you  as  far  as  I  bargained,  and  a  hard  journey  it  has  been  ;  I 
therefore  hope  you  will  suffer  Perico  and  myself  to  remain  here  to-night  at 
your  expense,  and  to-morrow  we  will  go  back  ;  at  present  we  are  both  sorely 
tired." 

"I  never  mounted  a  better  pony  than  Perico,"  said  I,  "and  never  met  with 
a  worse  guide  than  }-ourself.  You  appear  to  be  perfectly  ignorant  of  the  coun- 
try, and  have  done  nothing  but  bring  us  into  difficulties.  You  may,  however, 
stay  here  for  the  night,  as  you  say  you  are  tired,  and  to-morrow  you  may 
return  to  Ferrol,  where  I  counsel  you  to  adopt  some  other  trade  "  This  was 
said  at  the  door  of  the  posada  of  Rivadeo. 

"  Shall  I  lead  the  horses  to  a  stable  ?"  said  the  fellow. 

"  As  you  please,"  said  I. 

Antonio  looked  after  him  for  a  moment,  as  he  was  leading  the  animals 
away,  and  then,  shaking  his  head,  followed  slowly  after.  In  about  a  quarter 
of  an  hour  he  returned,  laden  with  the  furniture  of  our  horse,  and  with  a  smile 
upon  his  countenance. 

''A/on  maitrc,''  said  he,  "I  have  throughout  the  journey  had  a  bad  opinion 
of  this  fellow,  and  now  I  have  detected  him  ;  his  motive  in  requesting  per- 
mission to  stay  was  to  purloin  something  from  us.  He  was  very  officious  in 
the  stable  about  our  horse,  and  I  now  miss  the  new  leathern  girth  which  secured 
the  saddle,  and  which  I  observed  him  looking  at  frequently  on  the  road.  He 
has  by  this  time  doubtless  hid  it  somewhere  ;  we  are  quite  secure  of  him, 
however,  for  he  has  not  yet  received  the  hire  for  the  pony  nor  the  gratuity  for 
himself." 

The  guide  returned  just  as  he  concluded  speaking.  Dishonesty  is  always 
suspicious.  The  fellow  cast  a  glance  upon  us,  and  probably  beholding  in  our 
countenances  something  which  he  did  not  like,  he  suddenly  said,  "  Give  me 
the  horse  and  my  own  propi no  for  Perico,  and  I  wish  to  be  off  instantly." 

"How  is  this.?"  said  I;  "I  thought  you  and  Perico  were  both  fatigued, 
and  wished  to  rest  here  for  the  night.  You  have  soon  recovered  from  your 
weariness  " 

"  I  have  thought  over  the  matter,"  said  the  fellow,  "and  my  master  will  be 
angry  if  I  loiter  here  ;  pay  us,  therefore,  and  let  us  go." 

"  Certainly,"  said  I,  "  if  you  wish  it.     Is  the  horse-furniture  all  right .'" 

"  Quite  so,"  said  he  ;  "  I  delivered  it  all  to  your  servant." 

"  It  is  all  here,"  said  Antonio,  "with  the  exception  of  the  leathern  girth." 

"  I  have  not  got  it,"  said  the  guide. 


8o  AN  ADVENTURE  IN  SPAIN. 

"  Of  course  not,"  said  I  ;  "let  us  proceed  to  the  stable  ;  we  shall  perhaps  find 
it  there." 

To  the  stable  we  went,  which  we  searched  through  ;  no  girth,  however,  was 
forthcoming.  "  He  has  got  it  buckled  round  his  middle  beneath  his  pantaloons, 
vion  inaitre"  said  Antonio,  whose  eyes  were  moving  about  like  those  of  a  lynx  ; 
"  I  saw  the  protuberance  as  he  stooped  down.  However,  let  us  take  no  notice: 
he  is  here  surrounded  by  his  countrymen,  who,  if  we  were  to  seize  him,  might 
perhaps  take  his  part.  As  I  said  before,  he  is  in  our  power,  as  we  have  not 
paid  him." 

The  fellow  now  began  to  talk  in  Gallegan  to  the  bystanders  (several  persons 
having  collected),  wishing  the  Denho  to  take  him  if  he  knew  anything  of  the 
missing  property.  Nobody,  however,  seemed  inclined  to  take  his  part  ;  and 
those  who  listened  only  shrugged  their  shoulders.  We  returned  to  the  portal  of 
the  Posada,  the  fellow  following  us,  clamoring  for  the  horse-hire  and  t\\Q piopina. 
We  made  him  no  answer,  and  at  length  he  went  away,  threatening  to  apply  to 
thejusticia  ;  in  about  ten  minutes,  however,  he  came  running  back  with  the 
girth  in  his  hand. 

"  I  have  just  found  it,"  said  he,  "  in  the  street  :  )Our  servant  dropped  it  " 

I  took  the  leather  and  proceeded  very  deliberately  to  count  out  the  sum  to 
which  the  horse-hire  amounted,  and  having  delivered  it  to  him  in  the  presence 
of  witnesses,  I  said,  "  During  the  whole  journey  you  have  been  of  no  service 
to  us  whatever  ;  nevertheless  you  have  fared  like  ourselves,  and  have  had  all 
you  could  desire  to  eat  and  drink.  I  intended,  on  leaving  us,  to  present  you, 
moreover,  with  a  propina  of  two  dollars  ;  but  since,  notwithstanding  our  kind 
treatment,  you  endeavoured  to  pillage  us,  I  will  not  give  you  a  cuarto  ;  go, 
therefore,  about  your  business." 

All  the  audience  expressed  their  satisfaction  at  this  sentence,  and  told  him 
that  he  had  been  rightly  served,  and  that  he  was  a  disgrace  to  Galicia.  Two 
or  three  women  crossed  themselves,  and  asked  him  if  he  was  not  afraid  that 
the  Denho,  whom  he  had  invoked,  would  take  him  away.  At  last  a  respectable- 
looking  man  said  to  him,  "  Are  you  not  ashamed  to  have  attempted  to  rob 
two  innocent  strangers  .?  " 

"  Strangers  !  "  roared  the  fellow,  who  was  by  this  time  foaming  with  rage  ; 
"innocent  strangers  !  Carracho  !  they  know  more  of  Spain  and  Galicia  too  than 
the  whole  of  us.  Oh,  Denho  !  that  servant  is  no  man  but  a  wizard,  a  mnniro 
Where  is  Perico  }  " 

He  mounted  Perico,  and  proceeded  forthwith  to  another  posada.  The  tale 
however,  of  his  dishonesty  had  gone  before  him,  and  no  person  would  house 
him  ;  whereupon  he  returned  on  his  steps,  and  seeing  me  looking  out  of  the 
window  of  the  house,  he  gave  a  savage  shout,  and  shaking  his  fist  at  me^ 
galloped  out  of  the  town  ;  the  people  pursuing  him  with  hootings  and  revilings. 


"HE  WAS  PEERING  FORWARD." 


MISTAKEN. 


I  — A   MISTAKEN  VENGEANCE.       Jamaica,  1830 

T  was  a  warm  evening  in  Jamaica.  The  low  windows  of  the  planter's 
house  were  thrown  open  to  admit  what  small  amount  of  fresh 
breeze  might  be  straying  in  the  air.  Through  these  shafts  of 
light  were  flung  across  the  broad  verandah  ;  and  through  them  also 
came  the  noise  of  many  voices  talking  together,  the  clink  of  glasses,  and  every 
now  and  again  the  fragments  of  some  uproarious  chorus.  It  was  evident  that, 
within,  Mr.  Scott,  the  owner  of  the  house,  was  making  merry  with  his  friends. 

Outside  on  the  verandah,  it  was  dark  enough  between  the  patches  of  light  ; 
and  in  this  darkness,  by  the  shadow  of  one  of  the  pillars,  crouched  the  figure 
of  a  man  —  of  a  negro. 

He  had  dropped  on  hands  and  knees,  and  was  peering  forward  to  catch  a 
glimpse  of  the  room  inside,  though  obviously  careful  not  to  thrust  his  head 
too  far  into  the  light.  From  his  position  he  could  hear  every  word  that  was 
spoken  inside  the  room  ;  and  indeed,  as  the  sounds  of  merriment  floated  out 
on  the  windless  night,  it  was  plain  that  the  drinkers  had  little  care  whether 
they  were  heard  or   not.      He  could  see  also  the  flushed  faces  of  one  or  two 


m 


82  MISTAKEN. 

and  the  backs  of  others  as  they  leant  forward  and  went  through  the   ceremony 
of  taking  wine  together. 

Suddenly  at  the  end  of  the  table  the  voices  grew  louder  yet,  and  the  kneeling 
figure  could  see  a  redfaced  gentleman  pause  in  the  act  of  singing  a  bacchanalian 
stave  and  drop  his  jaw  to  listen.  The  hidden  witness  bent  further  forward  and 
strained  his  ears. 

"  You  did,  sir!" 

"  I  deny  it." 

*'  I  say,  sir,  that  I  heard  you  with  my  own  ears  !  " 

"  And  I  say,  sir,  that  you  lie  !  " 

There  was  the  sound  of  a  falling  chair,  a  volley  of  oaths,  a  crash  of  glass, 
and  the  company  leapt  to  their  feet  and  sprang  forward  to  part  the  combatants. 
The  man  on  the  verandah  lost  his  caution  now  and  stepped  almost  up  to  the 
window.  He  saw,  held  apart  by  their  friends,  the  host  of  the  evening,  Mr. 
Scott,  and  his  friend,  Mr.  Wilson.  The  forehead  of  the  former  had  a  nasty 
cut  beside  the  left  temple,  and  from  this  wound  the  blood  was  running  down 
his  face  and  mingling  with  the  wine  that  Wilson  had  discharged,  glass  and  all 
in  his  face. 

The  two  men  could  with  difficulty  be  held  apart.  They  were  both  flown 
with  wine,  and  a  trifle  thick  of  speech  ;  but  the  last  half-minute  had  sobered 
them  a  little.  As  soon  as  the  din  of  expostulation  and  entreaty  had  somewhat 
subsided,  Scott  wiped  his  face  in  his  handkerchief,  and  said — 

"  You  shall  give  me  satisfaction  for  this." 

"  Whenever  you  please." 

"This  night,  then." 

"  This  moment,  if  you  will." 

"  Stop,  stop,  gentlemen  !  "  interposed  the  most  sober  of  the  guests.  "  If  you 
must  fight  over  a  trifling  quarrel,  at  least  let  the  matter  be  conducted  decentl}- 
and  in  order.  To-morrow  you  may  both  come  to  your  senses  and  be  heartily 
ashamed  of  this " 

"  Do  you  hint  that  I  am  drunk,  sir  ?*'  interrupted  Wilson  savagely. 

"  No,  no  ;  but  surely  you  can  wait  to  conduct  an  affair  like  this  is  an  ordinary 
manner.     To  morrow  at  least  your  heads  will  be  cooler " 

"Cooler.?" 

"  Yes,  for  taking  aim.  To  rush  off  and  fly  at  each  other  at  once,  like  two 
fighting  niggers,  is  unheard  of.  Let  me  suggest,  too,  that  these  arrangements 
are  best  left  to  friends,  and  should  not  be  settled  by  principals." 

"  Oh,  certainly,"  said  Scott  ;  "  I  have  no  objection  to  putting  this  in  the  hands 
of  seconds.     I  insist  only  that  the  matter  shall  be  settled  this  night." 

"  And  I  also  insist  on  this,"  added  Wilson  ;  "  the  moon  is  already  risen.  In 
half  an  hour  there  will  be  plenty  of  light  by  which  to  despatch  the  business." 

"  Will  you  act  for  me,  Mr.  Chambers  ?  "  said  Scott,  addressing  the  sober  man 
»vho  had  been  interceding  on  behalf  of  order. 


mSTAKEN.  83 

Mr.  Chambers  bowed,  and  Wilson  asked  a  similar  favour  of  a  Mr.  Rayner, 
and  the  two  seconds  arranged  the  preliminaries  on  the  spot.  Muskets  were 
fixed  upon  as  the  weapons,  and  a  lawn  at  the  back  of  the  house  as  the  place 
of  meeting.  The  combatants  would  have  to  fire  by  the  light  of  the  moon  ;  but 
with  men  who  have  had  no  great  practice,  a  musket  in  a  dim  light  is  more 
deadly  than  a  pistol  at  noonday.  So  far  the  arrangements  had  been  made,  when 
Chambers  said  to  Rayner— 

"  This  public  manner  of  settling  preliminaries  is  a  trifle  vulgar,  is  it  not .'' 
Would  you  mind  stepping  out  on  the  verandah  with  me,  where  we  can  be  alone 
together  ?  " 

"  Upon  my  word,"  laughed  Wilson,  "  we  are  becoming  mighty  ceremonious. 
It  seems  to  me  that  when  two  men  wish  to  kill  each  other,  you  take  a  deal  of 
trouble  to  let  them  do  it." 

Nevertheless,  the  two  seconds  stepped  out  of  the  open  window  on  to  the 
verandah.     As  they  did  so.  Chambers  caught  the  other  by  the  arm — 

"  Hulloa  !     What's  the  matter  ?  " 

"  I  thought  1  saw  some  one  disappear  in  the  shadow  there,  by  the  corner  of 
the  house  " 

"Some  servant,  perhaps,  attracted  by  the  noise  of  the  quarrel  inside.  I  don't 
wonder  at  it.     There  was  row  enough  made  to  be  heard  a  mile  off" 

"  Great  nonsense  !  " 

"  Great  nonsense,  as  you  say.  To-morrow  morning,  if  they  would  be  content 
to  sleep  upon  it  as  you  suggested,  they  would  be  heartily  ashamed  of  them- 
selves. Such  good  friends,  too  as  Scott  and  Wilson  !  What  was  it  all  about  .'' 
I'll  be  hanged  if  I  know." 

"I'll  be  hanged  if  I  know,  either.  Upon  my  word,  what  with  the  noise  and 
the  chattering,  I  really  forgot  to  ask  ;  less  than  a  trifle,  I  dare  say." 

"  It  could  not  be  more.  They  were  excellent  friends  all  the  evening,  until 
the  wine  got  in  them.  But  it's  too  late  now  ;  I  suppose  we  must  let  the  two 
fools  try  to  kill  each  other." 

"  I  suppose  so." 

"  I  hope  to  heaven  they  do  each  other  no  mischief  The  worst  of  it  is,  this 
quarrel  has  sobered  them  ;  they  are  getting  cooler  every  minute." 

"  Why  not  prevent  it  ?  " 

"  Prevent  it  !  What  do  you  mean  ?  You  agreed  a  moment  since  that  the 
quarrel  had  gone  too  far,  and  now  you  say " 

"  And  now  I  say  what  I  called  you  out  to  tell  you.  It  is  clear — you  agree 
with  me — that  to  let  one  of  these  men  kill  the  other  would  be  a  sin.  Then  why 
not  load  the  muskets  with  a  blank  charge  ?  " 

"We  should  be  detected." 

"  Two-thirds  of  the  company  are  drunk.  The  men  themselves  are  drun.^ 
Who  is  to  wonder  if  they  fail  to  kill  each  other  ?  And  even  if  the  tricV  were 
discovered  later,  to-morrow  we  should  have  the  two  fools  round  to  thank  us 


84  MISTAKEN. 

"  I  have  a  mind  to  do  as  you  say." 

"That's  right.  We  shall  have  the  loading  of  the  guns  ;  and  this  night  I 
hope  to  go  to  sleep  with  a  quiet  conscience." 

The  matter  was  arranged.  Twenty  minutes  later,  on  the  lawn  encircled  with 
shrubs  behind  the  planter's  house,  the  company  had  gathered  to  see  the  two 
angry  men  wipe  out  their  difference.  On  the  open  lawn,  where  the  principals 
stood,  the  moon  shone  brightly  enough.  The  shrubbery  around  was  dark,  and 
the  figures  of  the  spectators  could  scarcely  be  discerned  against  the  black 
foliage.  The  ground  was  measured  out,  the  muskets  loaded,  and  now  the  two 
stood  facing  each  other,  with  the  moonlight  shining  vividly  along  the  barrels 
of  their  weapons.    The  seconds  stood  aside,  and  Mr.  Chambers  gave  the  word — 

"Fire!" 

Out  upon  the  night  rang  the  explosion.  Almost  before  the  flash  had  come 
and  gone,  one  of  the  figures  staggered  a  step — two  steps — forward,  flung  up 
his  hands  as  he  dropped  his  musket,  and  with  a  piercing  cry  fell  npon  his 
face.     It  was  Mr.  Wilson. 

"  Admirable  acting,  upon  my  soul  ! "  muttered  Chambers  to  himself,  as  he 
strolled  up  to  the  group  around  the  fallen  man. 

"  He  has  fainted,"  he  said  quietly. 

"  Fainted  !    Good  heavens,  man,  what  are  you  talking  about .''      He  is  dead  !'' 

It  was  true.  The  unfortunate  man,  as  the}'  tried  to  lift  him  up,  fell  back  limp 
and  lifeless  in  their  arms.  At  Ihis  moment  Mr.  Scott  came  up  He  was  ghastly 
white,  and  thoroughly  sober  now. 

"  I  have  not  killed  him  ?  Tell  mc — some  one — that  I  have  not  killed  him. 
For  God's  sake  lift  him  up  and  let  him  tell  me  that  he  is  not  dead  !" 

"  He  will  never  speak  again,"  said  one. 

"  That  is  absurd,"  interrupted  Chambers  :  "  he  is  faint,  I  tell  you," 

"Faint.?" 

"  Yes,  I  will  tell  you  why.  Rayner  and  I  loaded  the  muskets.  We  put  in  no 
bullets,  only  powder.     He  cannot  be  killed." 

"  See  here,"  said  a  man  who  was  bending  over  the  body  ;  "  look  at  this. 
Here  is  blood — the  man  is  dead.  Merciful  heavens  !  "  he  cried,  turning  the 
body  over,  "it  is  in  the  back.     He  is  shot  in  the  back  !  " 

"In  the  back  ?" 

"Some  other  hand  than  Scott's  fired  this  shot,"  screamed  Chambers,  leaping 
to  his  feet.  "  Scott  couldn't  have  shot  him  in  the  back — it's  impossible  :  and 
his  gun  was  loaded  with  blank  charge,  I  tell  you.  Search  the  bushes,  every- 
body !  " 

They  did  not  need  this  exhortation.  One  and  all,  they  were  completely 
sober  now,  and  into  the  bushes  they  rushed  to  clear  up  this  mystery.  Hardly 
had  they  taken  a  step  when  they  heard  a  rustling  in  the  thicket  ahead  of 
them,  and  Rayner,  who  was  first,  caught  sight  of  a  figure  stealthily  creeping 
away  in  the  shadow. 


MISTAKEN. 


8S 


"  There  ho  is  !    There's  the  murderer  !    Catch  him,  all  of  you  ! " 

The  man,    finding  himself  detected,  stopped,  and   straightening  himself  up, 

came  towards  them.     He  was  a  negro. 

"  Yes,  I  did  it,"  he  said,    and    pointed  to   a 

carbine  which  he   still   grasped   in  his   hand 

They  fell  upon  him,  seized  him,  and  dragged 

him  forward   into   the  moonlight  beside  the 

body  of  the  murdered  man.       He    made    no 

resistance,   but,    as  he    stepped    out  on    the 

lawn,  turned  his  face  upon  the  man  who  held 

him  by  the  right  shoulder.     It  was  Scott. 


"  You  '  "  The 
ftllow's  jaw  had 
dropped,  and 
his  face  was 
ashen — ''You  !  " 
h  e  repeated  ; 
"  I  thought  it 
was   you —  that 

I Who    is 

it  ^  "  he  cried — 
"  Who  is  it  that 
I  killed?" 
They  stood 
a  r  c  u  n  d  him 
now  in  a  cir- 
cle, as  he  bent  and  examined  his  victim.  Presently  he  lifted  up  his  face  and 
turned  to  Scott. 

"  I  thought  it  was  jw^"   he  said  ;  "  I  meant  it  to  be  you.      Look  here  :    you've 
caught  me,  and  I  shall  be  hanged  for  this  ;  but  you  may  as  well  hear   my  tale. 


"  'THERE   HE   IS. 


86  M.  FESTEAUE  BLUNDER. 

I  thought  you — Scott,  there — were  the  man  I  covered  when  I  pulled  the  trigger.'* 

"The  fellow  is  mad,"  said  Scott.     "Why,  in  heaven's  name,  man,  what  harm 
have  I  ever  done  to  you  ?     I  never  saw  your  face  before  in  my  life." 

"  Likely    not.      But    I've  seen  yours.       Do  you  remember,  last  week,  riding 
into  Kingston  ? " 

"  Certainly.     It  was  last  Tuesday." 

"Right  :  it  was  last  Tuesday.  On  your  way  you  passed  a  gibbet,  on  w^hich 
a  coloured  man  was  hanging.  Do  you  remember  what  you  did  as  you  passed 
that  gibbet  .''  You  have  forgotten,  I  dare  say  ;  but  1  remember,  for  I  was  on  the 
other  side  of  the  hedge  and  watched  you.  You  rode  up  to  the  gibbet — curse 
you,  and  all  your  kind  ! — and  what  did  you  do  .-•  You  white  men  must  be 
playful  with  men  of  colour,  even  after  they  are  dead  and  hanged.  You  grinned, 
you  did,  and  stuck  a  pipe  in  the  dead  man's  mouth  for  sport,  and  rode  away 
grinning  at  your  joke.  It  was  a  pretty  joke,  was  it  not  ? — and  a  safe  one,  no 
doubt.  '  Niggers' — and  dead  '  niggers  '  too — are  a  quiet  lot.  Here  is  your  pipe 
— do  you  see  ?  I  was  that  dead  man's  brother  ;  and  I  was  watching  his  body 
to  see  that  it  took  no  harm,  for  I  know  you  and  your  kind — curse  you  ! — will 
have  your  little  jokes.  And  I  loved  my  brother — which  seems  a  strange  thing 
in  a  '  nigger'  you  think  ;  and  this  night  I  meant  to  shoot  you.  I  was  listening  in 
the  verandah  to-night.  I  heard  quarreling  ;  I  heard  \\  here  you  were  going  to 
fight  ;  I  ran  home  and  loaded  my  carbine  and  came  back  in  time  But  the 
darkness  played  me  a  trick.  I  have  shot  the  wrong  man  ;  and  now  )ou  may 
hang  me.  But  I  tell  you  the  only  thing  I  am  sorry  for  is  that  I  did  not  shoot 
you  as  well  !  " 


II.—  THE  BLUNDER  OF  M.  FESTEAU.     Paris,  1700. 

One  gusty  autumn  night,  towards  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  in  a  little 
monastery  in  the  Upper  Gevaudan,  a  monk  lay  dying. 

The  wind  shrieked  and  whistled  in  the  pines  outside  the  narrow  window  ; 
but  witiiin  the  little  cell  itself  the  silence  was  broken  only  by  the  laboured 
breathing  of  the  sick  man  For  the  monastery  was  a  home  of  silence,  and 
even  the  brown-robed  Father  Martin,  who  had  administered  the  last  sacrament 
and  was  now  kneeling  at  the  bedside  in  prayer,  had  not  spoken  a  word  for  the 
last  quarter  of  an  hour.  He  was  a  very  old  man.  this  Father  Martin,  and  had 
much  ado,  from  rheumatism,  to  get  down  on  his  knees,  or  having  got  down  to 
get  up.  Presently  the  dying  brother  opened  his  eyes,  somewhat  wearily,  as  if 
this  dying  were  but  a  tedious  affair,  and  spoke — 

"  Father  Martin." 

"  My  son." 

The  sick  monk  was  near  seventy  years  of  age,  but  the  elder  called  him  by 
this  title,  as  he  had  done  for  more  years  than  he  could  well  count. 

"  Do  you  remember  the  day  I  came  to  this  place — almost  fifty  years  ago  ? "' 


M.  FESTEAU'S  BLUNDER.  87 

"  I  remember  it  well.  It  was  a  spring  morning,  and  I  had  been  out  about 
the  garden  ;  I  was  hurrying  in  to  sing  my  office  when  I  saw  you  at  the  gate  : 
a  young  man,  bent  and  footsore,  but  with  every  gift  upon  you  to  enjoy  in  the 
outer  world.  I  remember  that  we  young  brothers  speculated  on  your  story,  but 
you  never  told  it." 

"  Not  even  in  confession  did  I  ever  tell  it  all.  And  yet  it  is  simple  enough  : 
listen." 

"  My  son,  it  will  exhaust  your  strength." 

"I  am  dying  surely  enough,  and  that  will  make  little  difference.  One  may 
be  wearied  even  by  silence — if  that  silence  last  lor  fifty  years.      Listen    again." 

The  monk's  tone  was  low  and  laboured  at  first — so  low  that  Father  Martin 
had  to  strain  his  ears  to  catch  the  whisper  that  was  almost  drowned  by  the  wind 
in  the  pines  outside.     And  the  dying  man's  story  was  this  : — 

"  I  was  a  surgeon,  once,  in  Paris.  To  a  certain  extent  I  was  famous  in  my 
profession  ;  for,  though  young,  I  was  looked  upon  as  a  clever  and  rising  man. 
One  day  I  was  called  in  to  attend  a  young  lady  of  noble  family,  a  Mademoiselle 
Villacerfe,  who  had  sprained  her  ankle  in  a  fall  from  her  horse  That  young 
lady — how  shall  I  describe  her  ?  " 

"  Do  not  describe  her,"  advised  Father  Martin,  who,  for  all  his  sixty  years  in 
the  cloister,  foresaw  what  was  coming. 

"  She  was  an  angel  on  earth,  my  father  ;  she  is  now  an  angel  in  heaven  " 

"  Poor  thing  !"  sighed  the  elder,  with  more  relevency  to  his  own  sympathy 
than  to  the  actual  words. 

"  You  will  remember,  my  father,  that  she  was  of  noble  birth,  and  I  was  but 
a  surgeon.  And  though,  by  the  time  that  I  paid  my  third  visit,  I  was 
passionately  in  love,  I  remembered  this  as  well,  and  recognised  that  my  case  was 
hopeless.  Nevertheless,  I  continued  to  love  her  ;  perhaps,  after  a  lifetime  spent 
in  this  place,  such  words  as  these  may  seem  hard  to  believe." 

"  I  assure  you,  no,"  said  the  other. 

"  Worse  than  all,  I  suspected — indeed,  after  awhile  I  knew — that  my  love 
was  returned  ;  by  what  small  signs  I  learnt  this  I  cannot  tell  you.  I  only  know 
that  I  was  convinced  of  it.  But  she  knew  as  well  as  I  the  barrier  that  lay  be- 
tween her  blood  and  mine  ;  and  so  we  never  spoke  a  word  of  what  was  nearest 
our  hearts.  She  was  young,  and  doubtless  her  relatives  planned  for  her  in  time 
an  honourable  match.  At  the  end  of  a  fortnight  she  was  cured,  and  after  that 
I  only  saw  her  at  rare  intervals,  when  she  passed  me  in  the  streets — never  to 
speak  to — not  once. 

"  Two  years  passed  in  this  way,  and  I  noticed  with  a  selfish  joy  that  she 
was  still  unmarried.  Perhaps  her  relatives  were  yet  hesitating  about  the  most 
suitable  match  ;  perhaps,  as  I  perferred  to  believe,  there  was  some  difficulty  on 
her  part.  When  I  saw  her  in  passing,  there  was  not  a  sign  to  show  that  she 
more  than  barely  remembered  my  once  having  been  of  service  to  her.  And  yet, 
somehow,  in  my  heart  I  was  sure  that  she  loved  me.     It  was   a   vain    thing   to 


88  M    FESTEAU'S  BLUNDER. 

pride  myself  upon,  but  I  did  so,  nevertheless.  Two  years  passed,  as  I  have 
said,  and  she  was  still  Mademoiselle  Villacerfe,  when  by  a  slight  indisposition 
she  was  forced  to  keep  to  her  room.  The  iamily  physician  saw  her,  and  advised 
that  she  should  be  bled  ;  and  I  was  the  surgeon  sent  for  to  perform  that  duty. 

"What  my  feelings  were  when  I  received  the  message  I  will  not  attempt  to 
paint.  At  first,  so  frightened  was  I,  so  insecure  of  myself,  that  I  had  a  mind 
to  decline  to  attend,  and  to  send  another  in  my  place.  Would  to  heaven  that 
I  had  !     But  at  length  I  summoned  up  courage  to  go. 

"  That  my  face  as  I  entered  the  room  betrayed  the  tumult  in  my  soul,  I  can- 
not disbelieve.  She  did  not  seem  to  notice  it,  however,  but  bade  me  welcome 
in  a  cheerful  voice.  It  was  the  voice  of  an  angel,  my  father  !  I  took  her  hand, 
and  as  I  felt  her  pulse  my  own  hand  trembled  violently  ;  I  hardly  dared  to  ask 
the  few  ordinary  questions  put  by  a  doctor  ;  I  could  not  trust  myself  to  speak. 
I  think  she  must  have  known  this,  for  when  my  hand  trembled  she  seemed  to 
notice  nothing,  but  continued  to  talk  quite  cheerfully  to  put  me  at  my  ease. 

"  Her  illness  had  made  her  more  charming  than  ever  :  it  softened  her 
features  and  gave  her  that  expression  of  weakness,  of  reliance  on  another,  which 
men  do  not  dislike  in  a  woman      Have  you  noticed  this,  my  father?" 

"  Possibly.     But  continue,  my  son." 

"  I  prepared  for  the  operation  by  turning  back  that  part  of  the  loose  dress 
that  covered  her  arm.  As  I  pressed  the  vein  to  render  it  more  prominent, 
her  attendant,  who  stood  beside  me  and  had  been  observing  my  face,  re- 
marked— 

"  '  Surely  M.  Festeau  is  unwell  to-day.  Had  not  Mademoiselle  better  defer 
the  operation,  seeing  that  he  appears  out  of  sorts  .-' * 

"  Her  mistress  took  no  notice  of  this  except  to  answer — 

"' I  confide  myself  entirely  to  M  Festeau,  who  is  and  has  been  my  very 
good  friend,  and  who  I  am  sure  would  never  do  me  an  injury.' 

"  What  I  stammered  in  answer  I  do  not  know.  It  seemed  to  me  that  some 
hidden  meaning  lay  beneath  her  words.  My  hand  shook  sadly.  And  then — I 
can  hardly  speak,  even  now,  of  what  happened  then." 

"  Go  on,  my  son." 

"  My  father,  the  next  thing  I  remember  was  that  I  saw  the  red  blood  spurting 
and  knew  what  I  had  done.     I  started  back  crying — 

"  '  I  am  of  all  men  the  most  unfortunate  !  I  have  opened  an  artery  instead 
of  a  vein  !  ' 

"  I  strove  with  all  my  knowledge  to  remedy  the  evil  that  I  had  done.  And 
if  I  cannot  describe  to  you  my  distraction,  I  can  still  less  describe  her  composure. 
It  was  wonderful — wonderful.  In  three  days  the  state  of  her  arm  had  grown  so 
serious  that  I,  as  well  as  the  other  surgeons,  saw  that  we  must  amputate  it. 
She  never  reproached  me  once.  Had  she  done  so,  I  might,  perhaps,  have 
borne  it  better.  She  never  spoke  one  peevish  word,  but  even  tenderly  desired 
that  I  should  not  be  absent  from  any  consultation  on  the  treatment  of  her  case  ; 


M.  FESTEAU'S  BLUNDER. 


89 


and  what  is  more,  she  cowed  the  bitter  words  and  black  looks  of  her  friends  in 
my  presence. 

"  Her  arm  was  amputated.  Alas  !  It  was  no  good.  In  less  than  twenty- 
four  hours  appeared  symptoms  which  I  knew,  fatally  enough,  numbered  her 
hours  on  earth.  She  read  her  doom  in  our  faces,  and  entreated  us  to  tell  her 
the  truth.  Our  anguish  was  a  sure  answer.  She  caused  her  will  to  be  made 
and  prepared  quite  fearlessly  for  death. 


^-     ...   '-<-^    "  \ 


"FATHER    MARTIN 


WAITED    FOR   THE   NEXT   WORD 


"  A  few  hours  before  she  died,  she  sent  to  say  that  she  wished  to  see  me. 
No  criminal  stepping  to  the  scaffold  can  suffer  as  I  suffered  then.  I  stood  before 
her  bed.  She  was  sinking  fast,  but  had  still  strength  enough  to  pronounce 
these  words,  every  one  of  which  has  remained  in  my  heart  to  this  hour  : — 

"  'My  friend,  I  cannot  express  my  concern  for  the  sorrow  with  which  I  see 
you  overwhelmed,  although  you  tried  to  hide  it  from  me.  I  am  leaving  this 
life  ;  to  all  intents  I  have  already  left  it  ;  and  so  what  should  I  do  but  think 
and  act  as  one  who  has  no  further  concern  with  it  ,''    At  this  moment,  trust  me. 


9«> 


THE  CORNISH  VOTER. 


I  feel  no  anger,  no  resentment.  I  do  not  look  on  you  as  one  by  whose  mistake 
I  have  lost  my  life  ;  rather  have  you  hastened  my  knowledge  of  a  glorious 
immortality.  But  the  world  may  look  upon  the  accident,  which  for  your  sake 
alone  I  call  unfortunate,  and  mention  it  to  your  disadvantage.  And  so  I  have 
provided  in  my  will  against  anything  you  may  have  to  dread  from  prejudice 
and  misrepresentation,' 

"These  were  her  words,  my  father  ;  but  her  look,  how  shall  I  describe  it? 
Can  you  wonder  now  at  the  fifty  years  I  have  passed  in  this  place  ?  That  she 
should  have  died  by  the  hand  of  that  poor  wretch  who,  of  all  others,  loved  her 
the  most — and  whom  she  loved,  my  father  !  For  as  I  am  sure  of  forgiveness 
I  know " 

Father  Martin,  kneeling  by  the  bedside,  waited  for  the  next  word.  When, 
after  a  second  or  two,  none  came,  he  looked  up,  and  rising  to  his  feet,  covered 
the  dead  brother's  face. 

III.—  THE  CORNISH  VOTER. 

During  one  memorable  election,  long  before  the  first  Reform  Bill  was  passed, 
the  borough  of  Grampound,  in  Cornwall,  was  in  a  ferment.  This  magnificent 
constituency  numbered  thirteen  voters,  all  told  ;  and  as  the  result  of  a  public- 
house  quarrel,  it  was  extremely  doubtful  whether  the  Ministerial  or  the  Opposi- 
tion candidate  would  be  elected.  In  fact,  as  the  time  drew  near,  it  began  to  be 
evident  that  the  voice  of  one  John  Pascoe  would  form  quite  an  appreciable 
fraction  in  what  Mr.  Carlyle  calls  the  "national  palaver."  For,  the  side  issue  of 
a  decayed  right  of  pasturage  having  been  started  by  some  astute  Whig  in 
competition  with  the  affairs  of  the  nation  at  large,  constituents  ranged  them- 
selves on  either  side,  and  John,  who  simply  couldn't  understand  the  pasturage 
question,  though  it  had  been  explained  to  him  a  dozen  times  at  great  length 
by  each  of  the  dozen  voters,  found  himself  at  the  end  of  it  in  the  possession  of 
no  convictions  and  an  enviable  casting-vote. 

John — or  Jan,  as  he  preferred  to  be  called  (for  like  most  great  men  he  was 
modest) — was  not  puffed  up  unduly  with  this  proud  possession.  Indirectly  he 
found  it  of  the  greatest  use  as  a  passport  to  free  beer.  He  drank  every  day 
at  the  expense  of  each  voter  and  both  the  candidates  with  frank  impartiality, 
and  listened  to  their  arguments,  with  attention,  merely  drawing  his  sleeve  across 
his  mouth  when  the  pint  mug  was  drained  ;  or  (if  the  speaker  were  too  deeply 
occupied  with  his  logic)  turning  it  upside-down  and  drumming  with  it  ab- 
stractedly on  the  table.  Nay,  more,  whereas  the  twelve  fellow-constituents 
could  not  feast  him  together,  as  well  from  the  dangers  of  an  overheated  discus- 
sion as  from  a  local  prejudice  against  sitting  down  thirteen  at  table,  the  two 
opposing  factions  feasted  him  on  alternate  days  and  carried  him  home  on  alter- 
nate nights.  In  short,  not  a  day  passed  without  Jan's  being  the  nucleus  of  a 
political  demonstration. 


THE  CORNISH  VOTER.  91 

On  the  whole  he  liked  the  life,  and  said  so  with  pleasing  frankness. 
Naturally,  however,  his  enjoyment  of  the  passing  hour  was  tempered  with  some 
consideration  that  all  things  have  an  end.  The  day  was  drawing  near  when 
he  would  have  to  decide  on  the  gentleman  to  represent  him  in  Parliament  ; 
and  meanwhile,  if  the  truth  must  be  told,  when  he  seemed  to  be  listening  to  his 
advisers,  he  was  really  considering  with  which  party  he  could  make  the  most 
advantageous  terms. 

Some  days  before  the  election,  the  Ministerial  candidate  had  an  inspiration. 
He  wrote  a  letter  and  sent  it  to  Lord  Newcastle. 

This  nobleman  and  minister,  besides  being  '*  eaten  up  with  zeal  for  the  House 
of  Hanover,"  was  remarkable  among  his  contemporaries  for  his  reckless  profusion 
in  promises.  It  is  said  that  he  particularly  prided  himself  on  being  able  to 
read  with  the  naked  eye  the  wants  of  the  various  persons  who  attended  his 
levees,  before  they  had  time  to  utter  a  syllable.  The  duke  read  his  candidate's 
letter  ;  considered  ;  found  that  it  was  necessary  to  hold  the  borough  of  Gram- 
pound  ;  cursed  ;  packed  up  his  things,  and  determined  to  interview  John  Pascoe 
in  person. 

He  did  so.  For  one  whole  day  John  Pascoe  hob-nobbed  with  a  duke,  and 
before  evening  emptied  more  pint  pots  than  next  day  he  could  well  count.  He 
was  reminded,  however,  to  go  to  the  poll  ;  and  within  a  few  hours  it  was  known 
that  the  Ministerial  cause  had  won  a  zealot  and  the  Grampound  election 

The  duke  left  early  next  morning,  but  not  before  he  had  seen  John  again  ; 
poured  forth  acknowledgments  and  promises  ;  called  him  his  dearest  (and, 
perhaps,  his  oldest)  friend  ;  swore  that  he  would  consider  himself  for  ever  in 
his  friend's  debt  ;  that  he  would  serve  him  by  night  and  day  ;  and  wanted  to 
know  if  John  could  suggest  a  wish  that  needed  fulfilment. 

John  suggested  more  beer. 

It  was  brought,  and  the  duke  pressed  him  to  name  a  further  desire. 

John  would  have  liked  a  permanant  casting-vote :  but  this  seemed  im- 
practicable. So  he  scratched  his  head,  thanked  the  duke  for  his  kindness,  and 
said  that  he  would  like  William  his  son-in-law  to  have  the  post  of  Super- 
visor of  Excise  in  those  parts,  if  his  Grace  would  say  a  good  word  to  the 
Commissioner.    . 

"  Certainly.     Do  I  understand  the  post  is  vacant }  " 

John  admitted  that  it  was  "  not  azackly  vacant."  But  the  present  supervisor 
was  old  and  infirm,  and  not  likely  to  live  much  longer. 

"  Then  you  wish  the  reversion  .-'  " 

John  intimated  that  he  wanted  "  nowt  o'  the  sort,  but  just  the  super- 
visorship." 

"  Ah,  that  is  what  I  mean.  My  dear  friend,  why  ask  for  such  a  trifling  em- 
ployment }     Your  relative  shall  have  it  the  moment  it  is  vacant." 

John  admitted  that  this  would  make  him  the  friend  of  the  Government  for 
life,  but  doubted  astutely. 


9r  THE   CORNISH   VOTER. 

"  How  be  I  to  make  sure  ?  For  I  reckons  in  Lunnon  'tes  another  matter  \vi' 
you  great  folks.  Down  here  'tes  glasses  all  round  an'  hail  fellow — well  met  ; 
but  up  there  ef  a  cat  wants  to  look  at  a  king  she  must  have  her  eyes  about." 

"  The  very  instant  the  man  dies,"  said  the  prime  Minister,  "  you  must  set 
out  post-haste  for  London  ;  drive  straight  to  my  house,  by  night  or  by  day, 
sleeping  or  waking,  dead  or  alive — pound  at  my  door  :  I  will  leave  word  with 
my  porter  to  show  you  upstairs  at  once,  and  the  post  shall  be  disposed  of  as 
you  wish — I  promise  you," 

The  duke  drove  away,  never  thinking  to  see  John  Pascoe  again — at  least 
not  until  the  next  contested  election.  But  John,  possibly  from  having  less  to 
think  about,  was  more  mindful,  A  few  months  afterwards  the  supervisor  died, 
and  the  Cornish  voter,  relying  on  his  Grace's  word,  promptly  started  for  London 
by  the  mail  ;  and  arriving  late  at  night  at  the  metropolis,  drove  straight  to  the 
duke's  house,  and  ascending  the  steps,  knocked  loudly  at  the  door. 

Now  it  so  happened  that  on  this  particular  night  the  Duke  of  Newcastle 
had  been  sitting  up,  anxiously  expecting  despatches  from  Madrid.  For  at  the 
very  time  when  Grampound  was  lamenting  its  late  Supervisor  of  Excise,  Europe 
was  hourly  expecting  the  death  of  the  King  of  Spain  ;  and  it  was  of  the 
utmost  importance  that  the  British  minister  should  hear  the  intelligence  as 
soon  as  possible  after  his  Majesty's  decease.  Shortly  after  midnight,  however, 
the  duke  grew  very  sleepy  and  finally  retired  to  bed,  leaving  strict  orders  with 
his  porter  to  sit  up,  as  he  was  hourly  expecting  a  messenger  of  the  greatest 
importance.  "When  he  comes,"  said  the  duke,  "show  him  up  to  my  room  at 
once  :  do  you  hear  ? — at  once." 

The  duke  went  off  to  bed  ;  the  porter  settled  himself  comfortably  in  his 
chair.  The  duke  was  already  asleep  and  dreaming,  the  porter  nodding  drowsily, 
when  a  stout  ash  stick  rattled  at  the  front  door,  and  continued  vigor- 
ously until  the  porter  threw  back  the  bolts.  On  the  threshold  stood  John 
Tascoe. 

"  Es  the  Dook  o'  Newcas'le  inside  .-'" 

"  Yes,"  answered  the  porter,  *'  and  in  bed  ;  but  he  left  special  orders  that 
whenever  you  came  you  should  go  up  to  him  directly." 

"  God  bless  'un  for  a  proper  gen'l'm'n  !  "  John  Pascoe  nodded  at  the  porter 
triumphantly.     "  Never  tell  me  that  great  folks  don't  keep  their  word  !  " 

The  porter  led  the  way,  and  John  followed,  soliloquising — 

"'  Any  time,  night  or  day,  asleep  or  awake,  dead  or  alive' — that's  business  ! 
Bless  'un  for  a  true  friend,  I  say.  But  I  knawcd  he  wadn'  desayve  me,  Et  goes 
to  my  heart  to  wake  'un,  too  ;  for  precious  little  sleep  he  gets,  I  warrant." 

His  Grace's  door  was  opened  and  John  was  ushered  in. 

"Hullo  !"  cried  the  duke,  starting  up,  rubbing  his  eyes,  and  scarcely  awake 
from  dreaming  of  the  King  of  Spain,     "  Hullo  !     Is  he  dead  ? '' 

*•  Iss,  my  lord  :  dead  as  nails,"  said  John  ;  and  thought  to  himself,  "  Why  I  do 
believe  he's  been  a-dreamin'  of  me.     He  knawed  me  to  once"" 


"  THE    PrKE    TORE    ASIDE    THE    CURTAIN.'     (p.  94-) 


94  THE  CORNISH  VOTER. 

"When  did  he  die?" 

"  Day  afore  yestiddy,  at  ha'f  arter  two  azackly  by  the  town  clock." 

"  The  day  before  yesterday !  You  have  come  all  that  way  since  the  day 
before  yesterday  ?  "  cried  the  minister,  wondering  at  the  possibility  of  hearing 
news  from  Madrid  in  so  short  a  space  of  time. 

John  smiled,  and  opined  that  "  It  were  smartish  work." 

"How  did  he  die?" 

"  Powerful  hard,  my  lord  ;  powerful  hard.  You  see,  three  weeks  agone  come 
Michelmas  Day  he  tuk  to  hes  bed,  and  they  kept  'un  goin'  'pon  milk  an'  a 
power  o'  doctor's  stuff,  an'  stuck  a  blister  roun'  by  the  back  o'  his  ear  ;  but 
'twarn't  no  use,  an'  he's  a-gone,  an'  I  hopes  you'll  let  my  son-in-law  William 
succeed  him,  'cos  he's  a  steady  young  man,  es  William,  an' 

"  Succeed  him  !  Succeed  the  King  of  Spain  ?  Are  you  drunk,  or  mad,  or 
am  I  dreaming  ?     Where  are  the  despatches  ?" 

The  duke  leapt  up  in  bed,  tore  aside  a  curtain  to  see  more  clearly,  and 
instead  of  the  courier  he  expected,  beheld  John  Pascoe,  bowing  and  scraping, 
hat  in  hand,  and  smiling  away  with  the  extremest  good-humour. 

There  was  a  pause  as  the  situation  dawned  upon  the  minister,  At  first  he 
cursed  very  heartily  and  profusely  ;  but  as  the  absurdity  of  the  circumstances 
overcame  his  chagrin,  he  lay  back  in  the  bed  and  had  to  give  way  to  his 
laughter.  John,  though  entirely  puzzled,  laughed  from  sympathy  ;  and  next 
day  went  back  to  Grampound  with  the  appointment  in  his  pocket. 


95 


of  them. 


THE   RAFT   OF   THE   "MEDUSA." 

T  the  general  peace  of  1814,  France  regained  the  African  settlements 
which  extended  from  Cape  Blanco  to  the  mouth  of  the  Gambia  ;  and 
on  the  17th  of  June,  1816,  the  frigate  Medusa,  of  44  guns,  with  three 
other  vessels,  sailed  from  the  port  of  Rochefort  to  take  possession 
There  is  no  need  to  recount  the  history  of  the  voyage.  M.  de  Chau- 
mareys,  who  commanded  the  frigate,  was  a  commander  who  added  obstinacy 
to  absolute  incompetence;  and  his  crew  consisted  of  four  hundred  men,  the 
greater  number  of  whom  were  ready  to  mutiny  on  the  slightest  provocation 
The  result  was  that  the  frigate,  after  parting  company  with  her  three  consorts, 
ran  upon  the  bank  of  Arguin,  on  the  north  of  the  Senegambian  coast,  where, 
after  two  days  spent  in  vain  attempts  to  get  her  off,  a  storm  arose  which  broke 
her  back.  The  rudder  was  unshipped,  and  as  it  still  held  to  the  stern  chains, 
became  a  battering-ram,  which  ruinously  crashed  on  the  doomed  vessel  with 
every  fresh  wave  ;  and  to  make  matters  yet  worse,  a  mutiny  broke  out  at  the 
most  critical  moment,  and  all  order  on  board  was  completely  lost. 

Consequently  the  crew  took  to  the  boats  in  the  utmost  confusion.  As  the 
boats  were  not  sufficient  to  contain  all  the  crew,  a  raft  was  rigged  up  which 
they  calculated  to  carry  one  hundred  and  fifty  persons.  But  in  a  hurry  it 
was  most  inadequately  provisioned.  Of  wine,  indeed,  it  had  more  than  enough, 
but  not  a  single  barrel  of  biscuit.  A  bag  containing  twenty-five  pounds  of 
biscuit  was  thrown  from  the  vessel  at  the  moment  of  departure,  but  its  contents 
were  reduced  to  pulp  by  the  salt  water,  and  this  was  all  the  food  upon  which 
the  hapless  navigators  of  the  raft  had  to  rely. 

The  embarkation  was  a  disorderly  scramble.  Two  hundred  and  thirty 
persons  were  stowed  away  in  the  six  boats  ;  and  a  hundred  and  twenty-nine 
soldiers  and  officers,  with  twenty-nine  sailors  and  passengers,  and  one  woman, 
found  a  place  on  the  raft.  Seventeen  men  were  abandoned  on  the  wreck,  most 
of  them  too  drunk  to  be  moved.  At  the  last  moment  M.  Correard,  an  engineer 
who  should  have  gone  in  one  of  the  boats,  but  heriocally  refused  to  desert  his 
men  on  the  raft,  called  to  one  of  the  officers  that  he  would  not  start  unless 
the  raft  were  supplied  with  charts  and  instruments  The  officer  answered  that 
they  were  all  provided,  and  that  he  himself  was  coming  on  board  the  raft  to 
navigate  her.     M.  Correard  never  set  eyes  on  this  man  again. 

The  boats  pushed  off  on  the  morning  of  July  15th,  the  coast  being  then 
not  fifteen  leagues  distant.    It  was  settled  that  they  should  take  the  raft  in  tow. 


96  THE  RAFT   OF  THE    "MEDUSA." 

and  so  they  started.  But  after  rowing  two  leagues,  the  cowards  in  the  boats 
began  to  take  counsel.  It  washard  work  pulling  that  raft,  and  really  it  was 
a  question  if  such  trouble  need  be  taken.  Presently  a  cry  arose,  "  Let's  leave 
them  " — "  Let  go  the  tow-rope  ;  "  and,  after  a  minute  or  so,  one  boat  actually 
did  so.  The  captain  made  no  effort  to  reprove  the  action,  and  the  infection  of 
cowardice  spread.  One  by  one  the  boats  sent  the  tow-rope  adrift.  "Well, 
well,"  they  said,  "  we  can  easily  say  that  it  broke." 

At  first  the  wretched  men  on  the  raft  could  not  believe  the  fact  that  their 
eyes  witnessed.  They  imagined  that  the  boats  must  have  seen  some  vessel  on 
the  horizon,  and  were  hastening  for  succour.  But  at  length  the  ghastly  truth 
broke  on  them,  and  in  their  frantic  indignation,  mad  with  fear,  they  swore  to 
cut  to  pieces  whomsoever  of  their  comrades  they  overtook.  There  was  little 
chance  of  accomplishing  their  threat.  Death — imminent  death — stared  them 
in  the  face.  Their  floating  death-bed  was  but  twenty  metres  in  length,  and 
seven  in  breadth,  and  of  this,  so  flimsy  was  the  construction,  only  the  centre  was 
safe — a  space  that  barely  afforded  standing-room  for  twenty  men.  It  had  been 
rigged  up  from  the  masts  and  yards  of  the  Medusa.  The  groundwork  was  solid 
enough,  and  had  been  securely  lashed  together :  but  the  breast-work  was  frail, 
and  two-thirds  of  the  raft  liable  to  constant  submersion.  And  what  happened 
on  this  awful  voyage  shall  be  told  in  the  words  of  a  survivor  : — 

"When  the  boats  disappeared,  the  dismay  was  terrible.  Thirst  and  famine, 
with  all  their  terrors,  rose  before  our  eyes  and  appalled  us  ;  and  the  sea  already 
washed  the  half  of  our  bodies.  The  soldiers  gave  themselves  up  to  despair; 
seeing  death  before  them,  they  broke  out  into  groans  and  lamentations  ;  nor 
could  anything  we  said  at  first  avail  to  calm  them.  But  at  length  by  showing 
a  firm  countenance  we  brought  back  some  tranquillity,  and  then  began  to  look 
about  for  charts,  the  compass,  and  the  anchor,  which,  from  what  had  been 
said  to  us  when  we  quitted  the  frigate,  we  imagined  to  be  on  board.  Alas  ! 
We  had  none  of  them  ! 

"  The  want  of  a  compass  in  particular  dismayed  us  ;  and  we  broke  out  into 
yells  and  cries  for  vengeance.  All  at  once,  M.  Correard  remembered  that  one 
of  his  workmen  carried  a  small  compass,  and  asked  the  man  for  it.  '  Yes,  yes,' 
said  he,  '  I  have  it  with  me.'  The  news  transported  us  with  joy  ;  for  the  first 
time  we  began  to  dream  of  safety.  It  was  about  the  size  of  a  crown-piece, 
and  far  from  correct  ;  but  no  one  who  has  not  been  in  our  case  can  imagine 
with  what  joy  we  looked  upon  it.  Alas  !  and  alas  !  It  was  given  to  the  com- 
mander of  the  raft,  and  in  a  few  hours  we  lost  it.  It  fell  between  the  interstices 
of  our  raft,  and  we  lost  it  for  ever.  Henceforward  we  had  nothing  to  guide  us 
but  the  rising  and  setting  of  the  sun. 

"We  had  all  left  the  frigate  without  breaking  our  fast,  and  now  we  began 
to  be  very  hungry.  So  we  mixed  our  biscuit-paste  with  a  little  wine  and  dis- 
tributed it.  This  was  our  first  meal,  and  the  best  we  had  the  whole  time  we 
were  on  the  raft.      Our  rations  of  wine  we  now  fixed  at  three-quarters  of  a  pint 


THE    RAFT    OF    THE    "MEDUSA." 


97 


a  day.  We  shall  say  no  more  of  the  biscuit — the  first  distribution  consumed 
that.  But  we  still  hoped.  The  day  passed  over  very  quietly,  for  we  sat  and 
talked  of  the  means  of  saving  ourselves.  We  never  doubted  that  we  should 
be  saved  ;  and  we  kept  up  the  spirits  of  the  soldiers  promising  them  vengeance 
upon  the  cowards  who  had  deserted  us. 

*'  M.  Coudin,  who  commanded  our  raft,   being   unable  to   move,   M.  Savigny 


the  young  surgeon 

caused  the   pole  of 

one  of  the  frigate's 

masts  to  be  cut  in 

two,    and  on    this    h( 

the  maintop-gallant 

shrouds  and  stays    we   made     '  j"- 

out  of  the   disused   tow-rope. 

This  sail  of  ours  trimmed  pretty  well,  but 

was   of  very  little   use,   as  it  only    served 

when  the  wind  came  from  behind,  and  our  the  boats  rowing  away 

raft  kept  always  aslant — perhaps  from  the  excessive   length  of  the  cross-pieces 

which  projected  on  either  side. 

"  In  the  evening  we  prayed  hopefully  to  heaven — and  one  consoling  thought 
still  pleased  our  imaginations  We  conjectured  that  the  boats  had  sailed  for 
the  Isle  of  Arguin,  and  once  there  would  lose  no  time  in  returning  to  our 
assistance.     This  idea,  which  we  tried  to  inspire  generally,   put  a  stop  to  the 


98  THE   RAFT   OF  THE   "MEDUSA." 

clamour  of  the  soldiers  and  sailors.  The  night  came  on,  and  with  it  the  wind 
freshened  and  the  sea  rose  considerably.  What  a  fearful  night  it  was  !  At  every 
shock  of  the  sea  the  people  pitched  against  each  other,  rolling  this  way  and 
that.  M.  Savigny,  with  a  few  who  yet  retained  their  wits,  contrived  to  fasten 
some  ropes  to  pieces  of  the  raft.  The  men  took  hold  of  them,  and  so  held  on 
when  the  great  waves  came  washing  over.  At  midnight  the  weather  grew  worse 
and  worse.  The  seas  lifted  us  and  dashed  us  down  upon  the  raft  again  with 
every  billow,  the  cries  of  the  people  mingled  with  the  roar  of  the  waters  ;  and 
to  add  to  the  horror,  the  night  was  pitch-black. 

"At  one  time  we  thought  we  descried  lights  in  the  distance,  and  made 
signals  by  burning  some  charges  of  powder,  and  even  letting  off  some  pistol- 
shots  ;  for  we  had  taken  the  precaution  to  hang  gunpowder  and  pistols  at  the 
mast-head.  But  we  were  mistaken,  after  all  ;  it  was  but  the  white  and  phos- 
phorescent gleam  of  the  breakers.  So  throughout  the  night  we  fought  on 
against  death,  holding  fast  by  the  ropes,  rolled  by  the  waves  from  the  back  to 
the  front,  from  the  front  to  the  back,  and  sometimes  flung  over  into  the  sea, 
suspended  between  life  and  death,  doomed,  yet  still  fighting  for  life.  So  we 
fared  until  daybreak — with  no  sound  in  our  ears  but  the  howling  of  sea  and 
wind,  but  shrieks  and  groans,  oaths,  sobbings,  farewells,  and  vows  to  God. 

"  About  seven  in  the  morning  the  storm  abated  a  little.  But  as  the  day 
dawned,  what  a  sight  was  revealed  in  the  sickly  light!  Ten  or  twelve  poor 
wretches,  their  legs  entangled  in  the  lattice-work  of  the  raft,  had  broken  their 
limbs,  and  so  perished  horribly.  There  they  were,  hanging  out  into  the  waters. 
At  breakfast  we  called  the  roll  and  missed  twenty  men.  We  will  not  swear 
that  this  was  the  exact  number  missing,  for  we  found  afterwards  that  some  of 
the  soldiers,  in  order  to  have  more  than  their  rations,  answered  twice  and  even 
thrice.  We  were  so  many  crowded  together  that  it  was  impossible  to  prevent 
these  abuses. 

"Amid  these  horrors  there  was  yet  room  for  tears.  Two  young  men  had 
discovered  their  aged  father  trampled  into  insensibility  beneath  the  feet  of  the 
soldiers.  By  the  most  assiduous  care  they  had  restored  him  to  life,  and  were 
now  holding  him  in  their  arms.  At  the  same  time  two  lads  and  a  baker  took 
a  final  farewell  of  their  friends  and  flung  themselves  overboard  to  be  drowned. 
Already  the  minds  of  these  people  were  giving  way.  Some  fancied  they  saw 
land,  others  that  they  descried  vessels  bearing  down  to  save  us  ;  and  both 
announced  their  discoveries  with  loud  cries  and  clapping  of  hands.  Now,  if 
ever,  the  boats  would  be  coming  back  to  help  us.  As  the  day  grew  sunny 
and  warm,  we  sat  with  our  eyes  on  the  horizon,  expecting  every  moment  to 
perceive  a  sail. 

"  The  minutes  passed  into  hours,  but  no  help  came.  As  night  again  drew 
on,  despair  indeed  weighed  on  us  ;  and  now  the  soldiers  began  to  grow 
mutinous,  and  to  yell  with  fury  at  their  officers  As  the  darkness  came  down, 
the  sky  became  murky  with  thick  clouds  ;  the  wind,  too,  which  all  day  had 


THE   RAFT   OF  THE    "MEDUSA."  99 

been  rather  high,  rose  in  fresh  fury,  and  the  sea,  swelling  up,  drove  the  raft 
impetuously  before  it.  Mountains  of  water  covered  us  at  every  moment,  and 
broke  violently  in  our  midst.  We  were  obliged  to  keep  to  the  centre,  the 
more  solid  part  of  the  raft,  and  those  who  could  not  get  there  perished  almost 
to  a  man.  Fore  and  aft  the  waves  dashed  them,  sweeping  them  overboard  in 
spite  of  all  their  resistance.  And  at  the  centre  the  crowd  was  such  that  many 
were  stifled  by  the  weight  of  their  comrades,  who  tumbled  upon  them  at  every 
moment.  The  officers  clustered  round  the  mast,  calling  to  the  men  to  move 
this  way  or  that ;  for  the  wave  which  took  us  nearly  athwart,  gave  our  raft  a 
position  almost  perpendicular,  so  that  to  balance  it  we  were  obliged  to  run  to 
the  side  tossed  up  by  the  sea. 

"  And  now  the  soldiers  and  sailors  indeed  gave  themselves  up  for  lost. 
Convinced  that  they  would  be  swallowed  up,  they  wished  only  to  die  drunk, 
and  so  drown  the  horror  of  dying.  We  had  not  strength  to  oppose  them 
They  fell  upon  a  cask  that  stood  in  the  centre  of  the  raft,  staved  in  one  end, 
and  filling  their  tin  cups,  drank  until  the  salt  water  rushed  in  and  spoiled  the 
wine .  Inflamed  with  drink  and  crazed  with  terror,  they  swore  to  rid  themselves 
of  their  officers,  who,  said  they,  would  not  join  in  their  design  of  destroying 
the  raft.  An  axe  was  called  for,  and  the  cry  was  to  cut  the  ropes  and  perish 
all  together.  A  Malay  soldier,  of  giant  stature  and  hideous  features,  now 
advanced  to  the  edge  of  the  raft  with  a  boarding-axe,  and  began  to  cut  at  the 
cords.  We  advanced  to  hinder  him  ;  he  threatened  to  kill  the  officer  that  in- 
terrupted him,  struck  out  right  and  left  with  his  fist,  and  overthrew  all  who 
opposed  him.  A  sabre-blow  cut  him  over  as  his  axe  was  lifted  ;  but  had  there 
been  half  a  dozen  like  him,  our  doom  would  have  been  sealed. 

"  The  subaltern  officers  and  passengers  now  rushed  to  arms.  The  mutineers 
drew  their  sabres  or  got  out  their  knives  and  advanced  upon  us.  One  lifted 
his  sword,  and  though  we  were  but  twenty  against  a  hundred  and  more,  he 
instantly  fell,  pierced  with  wounds.  Still  they  threatened  us,  and  showing  a 
front  bristling  with  sabres  and  bayonets,  retreated  to  the  back  of  the  raft 
Here  one  of  them,  pretending  to  rest  against  the  breastwork,  began  with  his 
knife  to  hew  at  the  ropes.  We  rushed  upon  him.  A  soldier  tried  to  defend 
him,  and  threatened  one  of  our  officers  with  his  knife.  Indeed,  he  attempted 
to  stab  him,  but  only  pierced  his  coat  ;  and  the  officer,  turning  round,  pitched 
him  and  his  comrade  headforemost  into  the  sea. 

"After  this  there  were  no  more  half-measures.  The  fight  spread.  Some 
one  cried,  *  Lower  the  sail  !  '  and  instantly  a  crowd  of  madmen  flung  themselves 
on  the  yards  and  shrouds,  cut  the  stays,  and  toppled  over  the  mast.  In  its 
fall  it  nearly  broke  the  thigh  of  a  captain  of  foot,  and  stretched  him  senseless. 
The  mutineers  seized  him  and  flung  him  into  the  sea  ;  we,  perceiving  it,  saved 
him  and  set  him  on  a  barrel.  Again  the  villains  laid  hold  of  him,  and  were 
going  to  cut  out  his  eyes  with  a  penknife,  when,  driven  beyond  endurance, 
we  charged  them  furiously.     With  drawn  gabres  we  hacked  them  down,  and 


100  THE  RArr  OF  THE  "MEDUSA." 

many  atoned  for  a  mad  hour  with  the  loss  of  their  lives.  Several  of  the 
passengers  behaved  with  admirable  coolness  and  courage. 

"  M.  Correard,  roused  from  a  kind  of  trance  by  the  curses  of  the  wounded 
and  the  cries  of  '  Aux  armes  !  Aux  armes,  comarades  !  '  *A  nous  ! '  '  Nous  somvies 
perdus /' jumped  to  his  feet,  assembled  his  workmen  in  the  fore  part  of  the 
raft,  and  stood  on  the  defensive.  Every  moment  they  were  attacked  by  drunken 
men  armed  with  knives,  sabres,  bayonets,  and  clubbed  carbines  ;  and  at  length 
were  driven  to  use  their  arms  without  reserve,  especially  as  many  of  their 
adversaries,  falling  into  the  sea,  swam  round  to  the  fore  part  of  the  raft,  climbed 
up,  and  took  them  in  the  rear. 

"  During  this  combat,  one  of  the  workmen,  named  Dominique,  joining  the 
rebels,  was  hurled  over  into  the  sea.  Immediately  M.  Correard,  forgetting  the 
treachery  of  the  man,  jumped  in  after  him  at  the  place  where  the  voice  of 
the  wretch  had  just  been  heard  calling  '  A  moi  !'  and  seizing  him  by  the  hair 
contrived  to  drag  him  on  board  again  Dominique  had  received  several  sabre- 
wounds,  which  we  found,  notwithstanding  the  darkness  and  tumult,  and 
contrived  to  bind  up.  Nevertheless,  as  soon  as  he  was  recovered,  this  wretch 
rejoined  the  pack  of  mutineers,  and  directly  after  was  cut  down  by  us  and 
fell  dead. 

"  At  the  moment  when  we  had  finished  dressing  the  wounds  of  Dominique, 
another  voice  was  heard.  It  was  that  of  the  one  poor  woman  who  was  on 
the  raft  with  us.  She  was  a  sutler,  and  had  been  thrown  into  the  sea 
together  with  her  husband,  who  defended  her  with  great  courage.  There  she 
struggled  for  life,  frantically  invoking  our  Lady  of  Laux.  M.  Correard,  in 
despair  at  seeing  the  two  unfortunates  perish,  seized  a  large  rope,  tied  it  round 
his  waist,  and  a  second  time  threw  himself  into  the  sea,  whence  he  was  so 
happy  as  to  rescue  her,  whilst  her  husband  was  at  the  same  time  saved  by  the 
chief  workman,  Lavillette.  We  seated  these  two  poor  people  upon  dead  bodies, 
with  their  backs  against  a  barrel.  In  a  icw  minutes  they  recovered  their 
senses.  The  first  thought  of  the  woman  was  to  inquire  the  name  of  him  who 
had  saved  her  :  and  doubtless  thinking  that  words  could  not  express  her 
gratitude,  she  felt  in  her  pocket  and  produced  a  small  packet  of  snuff — it  was 
all  she  had  in  the  world.  This  she  pressed  on  M.  Correard,  who  handed  it  to 
a  poor  sailor  ;  and  this  fellow  subsisted  upon  it  for  four  days.  Nor  is  it  easy 
to  describe  the  joy  of  the  sutler  and  her  husband  on  finding  themselves  safe 
again  in  each  other's  arms.  'You  do  well  to  save  me,'  said  the  delighted  old 
woman  to  the  workmen  ;  '  I  was  in  all  the  Italian  campaigns  ;  for  twenty-four 
years  I  followed  the  Grand  Army  ;  I  feared  not  death  ;  I  helped  the  wounded, 
I  brought  them  brandy,  whether  they  had  money  or  not.  In  battle,  at  times, 
I  lost  some  of  my  debtors.  But  the  survivors  always  paid  me  double  ;  so  I, 
too,  shared  in  every  victory.' 

"  The  mutineers  now  let  us  alone  for  awhile,  some  of  them  falling  at  owr 
feet  and  asking  pardon,  which  was  granted.     But  at  midnight,  soon   after  we 


i-HE  RAFT  OF  THE  "MEDUSA." 


101 


had  returned  to  our  post  at  the  centre  of  the  raft,  they  broke  out  again,  and 
bein^  now  more  sober,  were  also  more  dangerous.  They  attacked  us,  and  we 
charged  in  our  turn,  so  that  the  raft  was  quickly  covered  with  dead  bodies. 
Those  who  had  no  arms  attempted  to  tear  us  with  their  teeth,  and  some  among 
us  were  cruelly  bitten.  M.  Savigny  was  bitten  in  the  legs  and  shoulder.  Our 
clothes  were  pierced  in  many  places  by  knives  and  sabres.  Four  of  the 
mutineers  seized  a  workman  and  were  going  to  toss  him  into  the  sea ;  one  of 


*'  '  AUX   AEMES !     AUX  ARJIES  !  *  '' 

them  was  biting  him  cruelly  in  the  sinew  above  the  heel,  and  the  others  were 
beating  him  with  sabres  and  clubbed  carbines.  His  cries  made  us  fly  to  his 
aid,  and  again  Lavillette  distinguished  himself  in  the  rescue.  In  a  moment  or 
two,  however,  they  had  seized  another,  Sous-Lieutenant  Lozach,  whom  they 
mistook  for  Lieutenant  Danglas,  the  object  of  their  especial  hatred,  on  account 
of  some  harshness  which  he  had  shown  them  when  in  garrison  at  the  Isle  of 
Rhe.  Poor  Lozach  was  with  difficulty  rescued,  and  now  the  cry  was  all  for 
'Danglas!  Danglas!'  They  saw  him  everywhere,  and  furiously  and  without 
cessation  demanded  his  head,  although  M.  Danglas  was  in  the  boats,  and  leagues 
away  from  us.  They  seized  M.  Coudin,  who  was  holding  in  his  arms  a  sailor- 
boy,  only  twelve  years  old,  and  resting  against  a  barrel.  The  pair  with  the 
barrel  were  heaved  overboard.  Nevertheless,  M.  Coudin  held  on  to  his  burden, 
and  seizing  the  raft,  pulled  himself  back.     It  was  a  dreadful  night. 


iMjiifiMvm^iiMivvW/r.pgg 


--■.■-.-.■W^^^. 


■Mir     .is»      -Ml    ■  ^. 


102  THE  RAFT  OF  THE  "MEDUSA." 

"  But  though  we  resisted  the  mutineers,  let  it  not  be  thought  that  we 
preserved  our  reason  unimpaired.  An  irresistible  lethargy  fell  upon  one,  in  which 
pictures  of  the  most  lovely  woodland  and  all  delightful  scenes  passed  before 
the  mind.  If  men  gave  way  to  this,  presently  they  became  furious,  or  calmly 
drowned  themselves,  saying  that  '  they  were  going  for  assistance,  and  would 
soon  return.'  Some  would  rush  with  drawn  sabres  among  their  comrades,  and 
demand  bread  or  the  wing  of  a  fowl.  Others  called  for  hammocks,  or  saw 
imaginary  ships  passing  ;  others  again  saw  a  harbour  and  a  gorgeous  city  that 
seemed  to  rise  out  of  the  air.  M.  Correard  fancied  himself  travelling  over  the 
plains  of  Lombardy.  One  of  the  officers  said,  '  I  know  the  boats  have  deserted 
us,  but  never  fear.  I  have  sent  a  carrier-pigeon  to  the  governor,  and  it  will 
be  all  right.'  When  we  awoke  in  the  morning,  we  could  scarcely  believe  but 
that  the  horrors  of  the  mutiny  also  were  but  a  part  of  our  dreams. 

'•But  daylight  told  us  the  truth.  Over  sixty  men  had  perished  in  the 
mutiny,  at  least  a  fourth  part  of  whom  had  drowned  themselves  in  despair. 
We  of  the  loyal  party  had  lost  only  two,  and  neither  of  them  officers.  Many 
were  wailing  aloud  and  shedding  tears  at  the  rigour  of  our  fate.  But  a  new 
misfortune  was  soon  discovered  :  the  rebels  had  thrown  into  the  sea  two  of  the 
wine-casks,  and  both  the  casks  of  water.  One  of  these  latter,  indeed,  we  re- 
covered ;  but  the  sea-water  had  got  into  it,  and  it  was  quite  spoiled.  We  had 
only  one  cask  of  wine  left,  and  as  we  were  now  above  sixty  in  number,  we  at 
once  put  ourselves  on  a  half-allowance. 

"At  daybreak  the  sea  grew  calm,  and  once  more  we  set  up  our  mast. 
Whether  it  were  illusion  or  not,  we  fancied  we  saw  a  line  of  shore  in  the  dis- 
tance, and  felt  the  burning  air  of  the  Sahara  upon  our  cheeks.  It  is  very  likely 
that  we  were  not  far  distant  from  it,  for  the  wind  from  sea  had  blown  violently  ; 
but  in  the  sequel  we  spread  the  sail  indifferently  to  every  breeze  that  blew,  so 
that  one  day  we  approached  the  coast,  and  on  the  next  ran  into  the  open  sea. 

"  When  the  mast  was  set  up,  we  distributed  the  wine,  amid  the  curses  of 
the  soldiers,  who  accused  us  as  the  cause  of  their  tortures.  We,  however,  though 
we  had  not  tasted  food  for  forty-eight  hours,  bore  up  bravely.  Courage  alone 
made  us  act.  We  collected  tags  from  the  men  and  bent  them  into  hooks  for 
fishing  ;  but  the  currents  carried  them  under  the  raft,  where  they  were 
entangled.  We  bent  a  bayonet  to  catch  sharks ;  but  a  shark  bit  it,  and 
straightened  it.  We  tried  to  eat  sword-belts  and  cartouch-boxes  ;  some  gnawed 
their  linen,  others  the  pieces  of  leather  in  their  hats  ;  but  it  was  little  good^ 
though  we  managed  to  swallow  some  morsels. 

".The  day  was  calm  and  fine  ;  but  no  assistance  came.  And  during  the 
night  that  followed,  ten  or  twelve  more  of  our  number  died  We  gave  their 
bodies  to  the  sea  for  a  grave,  and  with  eyes  that  made  one  shudder  to  look 
into  them,  hungrily  watched  their  gradual  disappearance  beneath  the  waves. 

"  Again  the  day  was  fine,  and  about  four  in  the  afternoon  some  consola- 
tion came  to  us.     A  large  shoal  of  flying-fish  passed  under  the  raft  and  were 


THE  RAFT  OF  THE  "MEDUSA."  108 

entangled  in  great  numbers  between  its  interstices.  The  men  caught  near  on 
two  hundred,  and  threw  them  into  an  empty  cask  after  opening  them  and 
devouring  the  milt  at  once.  This  food  seemed  delicious  to  us  ;  but  a  man  would 
have  wanted  a  thousand.     Yet  we   thanked  God  for  this  goodness. 

"  An  ounce  of  gunpower  had  been  found  in  the  morning,  and  dried  in  the 
sun  during  the  day  ;  a  steel,  some  gun-flints  and  tinder  were  also  found.  With 
infinite  trouble  we  managed  to  set  fire  to  some  pieces  of  dried  linen,  which  we 
put  on  a  barrel  that  the  sea-water  might  not  extinguish  the  flame.  Here  we 
dressed  some  fish,  but  so  little  that  we  all  craved  for  more.  The  officers  ate 
human  flesh  on  this  day,  for  the  first  time.  The  others  had  begun  on  the  day 
before.  Our  barrel  soon  took  fire,  and  the  powder  and  tinder  were  also 
consumed.  But  our  meal  gave  us  fresh  strength,  and  the  night  that  followed, 
being  calm,  might  even  have  appeared  happy,  had  it  not  been  signalised  by  a 
new  massacre. 

"  Some  Spaniards,  Italians,  and  negroes,  who  had  remained  neutral  in  the  first 
mutiny,  now  conspired,  under  a  Piedmontese  sergeant,  to  fall  on  us  during  the 
night  and  throw  us  all  into  the  sea.  The  negroes,  tempted  by  a  bag  containing 
fifteen  hundred  francs  and  some  other  valuables,  which  was  hung  on  to  the  mast, 
had  assured  the  rest  of  these  wretches  that  the  coast  was  close  at  hand,  and 
promised  them  that  once  on  shore,  they  could  guide  them  to  a  place  of  safety 
The  sailors,  however,  remained  faithful  to  us,  and  discovered  the  plot.  The  first 
signal  for  combat  was  given  by  a  Spaniard  who,  posting  himself  behind  the 
mast,  crossed  himself,  invoking  God  with  one  hand,  and  drew  his  knife  with  the 
other.  This  man  the  sailors  overpowered  and  threw  into  the  sea  Immediately 
an  Indian,  a  servant  of  one  of  the  officers,  caught  up  a  boarding-axe,  wrapped 
himself  in  a  piece  of  canvas,  and  flung  himself  after  his  comrade.  The 
mutineers  rushed  forward  to  avenge  their  comrades,  and  a  wild  and  desperate 
fight  followed.  Soon  again  the  raft  was  piled  with  dead  bodies,  and  slippery 
with  blood.  The  old  cries  were  resumed,  and  again  the  mutineers  shrieked  for 
the  head  of  Lieutenant  Danglas  ;  again  the  poor  sutler  woman  was  tossed  over- 
board, and  again  rescued.  At  length  the  mutineers  were  driven  back  and 
cowed,  and  the  officers  dropped  almost  at  once  upon  the  bloody  timbers  and 
fell  asleep. 

"The  fifth  day  rose  upon  us,  and  found  but  thirty  left,  and  of  these  not 
above  twenty  could  stand  or  walk.  The  salt  water  had  almost  entirely 
excoriated  our  lower  extremities.  We  were  covered  with  wounds  and  bruises, 
which,  irritated  by  the  salt  waters,  wrenched  from  us  the  most  piercing  cries. 
We  had  no  more  wine  than  was  sufficient  for  four  days,  and  there  was  not 
above  a  dozen  fish  left.  'In  four  days,'  said  we,  '  we  shall  be  in  want  of  every- 
thing, and  death  will  be  certain.' 

"  On  the  seventh  day,  two  soldiers  slipped  behind  our  only  barrel  of  wine. 
They  had  bored  a  hole  in  it,  and  were  drinking  by  means  of  a  reed.  We  had 
all  sworn  that  any  man  found  tampering  with  this  wine  should  be  put  to  death  ; 


Hp^nas 


«i  .-    -  -  -  «  .^  «^^w^.«*^  -^   m  -M   m  <M 


104  THE  RAFT  OF  THE  "  MEDUSA." 

this  law  we  now  put  into    execution,  and  the  two    trespassers  were  hurled  into 
the  sea. 

"  This  same  day  died  the  boy  Leon,  whom  M.  Coudin  had  rescued.  His 
sweet  face,  his  pretty  voice,  and  the  bravery  he  had  shown  ( for  he  had  already, 
through  only  twelve  years  old,  been  through  a  campaign  in  the  East  Indies), 
all  made  him  the  darling  of  the  regiment.  He  died  away  at  first,  like  a  lamp 
that  goes  out  for  want  of  nourishment.  We  gave  him  all  our  care,  but  in  vain- 
He  went  mad  at  last,  running  continually  from  one  side  of  the  raft  to  the 
other,  calling  for  his  mother,  for  water,  and  for  food.  In  this  state  he  trod 
heedlessly  over  the  feet  and  legs  of  his  companions  in  misfortune,  in  such 
sort  that  often  they  would  yell  with  anguish.  Yet  they  seldom  cursed, 
and  never  menaced  him  ;  and  at  last  he  died,  quite  quietly,  in  the  arms  of 
M.  Coudin. 

"  We  were  thus  but  twenty-seven  in  number,  and  of  these  all  but  fifteen 
were  covered  with  wounds  and  were  delirious.  Yet  they  had  their  share  in  the 
distribution  of  provisions,  and  might,  before  their  death,  consume  thirty  or  forty 
bottles  of  wine,  which  were  of  inestimable  value  to  us.  We  debated  therefore — 
and  God  knows  in  what  despair  —  and  at  length  resolved  to  throw  the  sufferers 
into  the  sea.  Among  these  were  the  sutler  woman  and  her  husband.  She  had 
a  broken  thigh,  and  the  man  was  cruelly  wounded  in  the  head.  Three  soldiers 
and  a  sailor  were  the  appointed  executioners.  The  rest  of  us  hid  our  faces 
and  wept  as  the  hideous  task  was  done.  Afterwards  we  threw  overboard  all 
arms  except  one  sabre  only,  which  might  be  of  service  for  cutting  a  rope  or 
shaping  a  spar. 

"There  was  now  scarcely  sufficient  food  to  last  us  for  six  days,  and  these 
were  the  most  wretched  that  can  be  imagined.  On  the  ninth  day  a  new  event 
happened  which  for  awhile  diverted  our  despair.  All  at  once  a  white  butterfly, 
of  the  species  so  common  in  France,  appeared,  to  the  joy  of  every  one,  fluttering 
over  our  heads,  and  settled  on  the  sail.  We  hailed  the  little  creature  as  the 
harbinger  of  news  that  land  was  near,  and  we  snatched  at  this  hope  in  a  kind 
of  delirium  of  joy.  Some  of  the  soldiers  watched  it  with  feverish  c}'es,  and 
would  have  fought  for  it  as  food  ;  but  the  rest  declared  that  no  harm  should 
be  done  it,  swearing  that  it  was  God's  messenger.  Next  day  we  saw  more 
butterflies,  and  some  sea-birds.  These  latter  we  tried  to  allure  towards  us  ;  but 
all  our  trouble  was  vain.  We  also  employed  ourselves  in  raising  a  kind  ol 
platform  in  the  centre  of  the  raft  out  of  some  planks  which  we  loosened  from 
the  lore  part.  Upon  this  we  placed  all  the  effects  which  we  could  collect.  On 
this  platform  the  waves  still  broke  over  us  indeed,  but  less  violently.  Here  we 
sometimes  passed  the  hours  in  telling  stories  to  each  other.  The  old  soldiers 
who  had  fought  under  Napoleon  had  a  store  of  exploits  to  relate  ;  and  the 
dauntless  Lavillette  was  the  foremost  at  this  amusement.  We  were  prepared  to 
die,  it  will  be  seen,  but  also  to  meet  death  with  resignation. 

"  At  this   time    a  raging   thirst,   redoubled   in  the   daytime   by   the  beams   of 


THE    RAFT  OF  THE   "MEDUSA," 


105 


the  burning  sun,  consumed  us  incessantly.  We  tried  to  quench  its  pangs  by- 
drinking  sea-water.  M  Griffon,  the  governor's  secretary,  continually  did  so.  He 
would  drink  ten  or  twelve  glasses  in  succession  ;  but  by  this  means  our  thirst 
was  only  stayed  for  a  moment,  and  then  became  more  severe.  One  officer  found 


"THE  WRECK   OF    'LA   MEDUSA. 


by  chance  a  little  lemon,  and  tried  to  keep  it  to  himself;  but  the  rest  fought 
for  it,  and  would  have  killed  him  had  he  not  yielded.  We  also  disputed  over 
some  dirty  cloves,  which  had  been  discovered  in  a  little  bag.  At  another  time 
we  came  on  two  small  phials  of  tooth-water.  The  lucky  possessor  kept  them 
carefully,  and  made  much  ado  about  pouring  one  or  two  drops  of  this  liquid  into 
the  hollow  of  a  comrade's  hand.  The  stuff  produced  a  delightful  sensation  in 
the  mouth.  Some  of  us  found  pieces  of  pewter,  and  with  these  strove  to  keep 
our  tongues  cool.  Misfortune,  in  fact,  made  us  ingenious.  It  also  made  the 
smallest  agreeable  sensation  a  supreme  happiness.      Thus   we   were    for   ever 


^    —      ^    M' :M    di 


,«.      v^^J**^,^      "^       '^ 


106  THE  RAFT   OF  THE   "MEDUSA." 

passing  from  hand  to  hand  a  small  phial  which  had  once  contained  attar  of 
roses,  and  would  inhale  with  delight  the  perfume  still  clinging  about  it.  A  few 
took  their  wine  through  quills  ;  in  our  state  the  smallest  quantity  often  produced 
intoxication. 

"On  the  tenth  day  five  of  the  men  declared  that  they  would  drown  them- 
selves. It  was  all  we  could  do  to  dissuade  them,  and  it  seemed  as  though  a 
fresh  mutiny  would  arise,  when  suddenly  the  raft  was  surrounded  by  a  shoal 
of  sharks,  and  we  all  flew  to  beat  off  the  intruders.  With  our  only  remaining 
sabre  Lavilette  struck  at  these  monsters  time  after  time,  but  for  a  long  while 
they  were  only  beaten  off  to  return  again. 

"  Three  days  passed  in  unspeakable  anguish.  So  heartily  did  we  despise  life 
that  many  of  us  did  not  fear  to  bathe  in  sight  of  the  sharks  around.  A  kind  of 
polypus  was  often  driven  in  great  numbers  on  the  raft,  and  when  their  long 
arms  clung  to  our  naked  bodies  they  caused  us  the  most  cruel  sufferings.  Yet 
some  of  us  could  indulge  in  pleasantries.     One  man  said — 

"  'If  the  brig  is  sent  to  look  for  us,  God  give  her  the  eyes  of  Argus' — 
alluding  to  the  brig  that  had  sailed  with  them  from  Rochefort.  We  always 
expected  that  this  would  be  the  vessel  sent  to  look  for  us,  as  we  talked  of  her 
continually. 

"During  the  i6th,  as  we  thought  ourselves  to  be  near  land,  eight  of  the 
most  determined  of  us  resolved  to  build  a  small  raft  and  row  for  the  coast. 
We  took  a  strong  spar  and  nailed  boards  across  it  at  small  intervals  ;  in  front 
we  fixed  a  little  mast  and  sail.  We  intended  to  provide  ourselves  with  oars 
made  out  of  barrel-staves.  When  our  machine  was  finished,  it  remained  to 
make  a  trial  of  it.  A  sailor,  wanting  to  pass  from  the  front  to  the  back  of  it, 
finding  the  mast  in  his  way,  set  his  foot  on  one  of  the  crossboards  ;  the  weight 
of  his  body  made  it  upset,  and  this  accident  proved  to  us  the  risk  of  our  enter- 
prise. We  let  the  new  raft  drift  away,  and  determined  to  await  death  in  our 
present  situation. 

"  The  morning  of  July  17th  rose  pure  and  cloudless.  We  had  now  been 
twelve  days  on  the  rait,  and  we  had  just  prayed  to  Almighty  God — as  we 
always  did  before  dividing  the  wine — and  each  man  was  tasting  with  delight 
the  small  portion  that  was  to  last  him  through  the  day,  when  a  captain  of 
infantry  looking  towards  the  horizon,  suddenly  descried  a  ship. 

'• '  The  brig  !  '  he  cried.     '  Look  !  the  brig  ! ' 

"  A  great  shout  of  joy  broke  from  us.  Wc  could  sec  that  she  was  a  brig, 
though  only  the  tips  of  her  masts  were  visible.  We  straightened  some  hoops 
of  casks,  and  tied  to  them  handkerchiefs  of  different  colours.  A  man,  assisted 
by  us  all  together,  mounted  to  the  top  of  the  mast  and  waved  these  little  flags. 
For  above  half  an  hour  we  hung  between  hope  and  fear.  '  It  is  growing  larger  I ' 
cried  one.  '  No,'  another  would  wail,  *  it  is  going  away  fiom  us  !  '  And  then, 
all  at  once,  the  brig  disappeared. 

"  Wc  sank  upon  the  raft  and  cave  way  at  last.      All   was  lost   now,  and  we 


THE  RAFT  OF  THE   "MEDUSA."  107 

said  to  ourselves,  'When  all  the  wine  is  gone,  and  our  strength  gone  too,  we 
will  wrap  ourselves  up  as  well  as  we  can,  and  laying  ourselves  down  on  our 
platform,  wait  for  death.'  We  made  a  small  tent  out  of  the  sails  still  left  to 
us  ;  and  when  this  was  put  up  we  all  lay  down  under  it,  so  that  we  might 
not  see  what  was  passing  around  us,  and  be  deluded  again  by  false  hope.  We 
agreed  to  inscribe  on  a  board  the  account  of  our  adventures,  sign  it,  and  fasten 
it  to  the  mast,  so  that  if  ever  the  raft  with  our  corpses  upon  it  should  be  picked 
up,  the  French  Government  and  our  families  should  learn  our  fate.  We  then 
tried  to  sleep  off  the  agony  of  our  minds. 

"  We  had  lain  thus  for  some  time,  when  the  master-gunner,  who  had  feebly 
lifted  up  the  flap  of  the  sail,  looked  out.  We  were  awakened  by  a  scream  of 
joy.  We  looked.  His  face  was  transfigured  ;  his  hands  were  stretched  towards 
the  sea  ;  he  scarcely  breathed.     All  he  could  manage  to  whisper  was — 

' '  '  Saved  !     See,  the  brig  is  close  upon  tis  ! ' 

"  Yes,  there  she  was,  at  most  half  a  league  from  us.  Her  white  sails  were 
spread,  and  she  steered  directly  for  us.  We  embraced  each  other ;  we  wept 
for  joy  ;  we  knelt  and  prayed  and  gave  God  thanks  aloud.  We  seized  hand- 
kerchiefs and  waved  them  to  the  brig  ;  even  those  whose  feet  were  so  sorely 
wounded  that  they  could  not  stand,  crawled  to  the  edge  of  the  raft  to  bathe 
their  eyes  in  the  sight  of  the  deliverers. 

"  Straight  before  the  wind  came  the  brig,  and  the  white  flag  of  France  flew 
from  its  fore-masthead.  We  knew  then  that  it  must  be  the  Argus,  and  we 
thanked  God  for  that,  too  :  that  our  rescuers  were  of  our  own  country.  She 
came  near  and  lay-to  on  our  starboard,  within  half  a  pistol-shot.  Her  crew, 
ranged  on  the  deck  and  in  the  shrouds,  waved  handkerchiefs  and  fired  pistols 
to  announce  the  good  tidings.  A  boat  was  immediately  hoisted  out  ;  an  ofiicer 
of  the  brig,  one  M.  Lemaigre,  stepped  into  it  and  took  the  command.  Nothing 
could  exceed  the  tenderness  he  showed.  And  in  a  short  time  we  were  all  on 
board  the  Argus.  Pity  was  painted  on  every  face,  and  compassion  drew  tears 
from  all  who  cast  eyes  on  us." 

Here  our  tale  may  end.  But  the  visitor  to  the  Louvre  in  Paris  will  see 
on  its  walls  a  picture  by  Gericault,  ghastly  and  wild  in  colouring,  but  fascinating 
for  all  that.  It  represents  a  raft,  half  submerged  by  the  sea,  piled  with  a 
jumble  of  dead  bodies  and  living  men,  some  raving,  some  abandoned  to  gloomy 
despair,  but  all  emaciated  and  wasted  with  suffering.  On  a  barrel,  a  negro  is 
frantically  waving  to  a  distant  brig,  and  around  him  a  mass  of  half-naked 
men  cling  and  point  and  struggle  to  look  towards  deliverance  The  picture's 
name  is  "The  Wreck  oi  La  Meduse\"  it  was  painted  in  a  studio  crowded 
with  corpses,  for  no  living  man  could  serve  as  model  for  one  of  those  awful 
figures  ;  and  it  tells  one  of  the  most  shameful  stories  in  the  history  of  France. 


w^immmimmmmmm 


i&      ^     ^      A    ^ 


"A   YOUNG   WOMAN   WHOM   THE   SOLDIERS   WEEK   DRAGGING   BEFORE   THEIR 

LIEUTENANT."  (/.    IO9  ) 


SOME   EPISODES   OF   WAR. 


I. A     TRAGEDY     OF     THE     PENINSULAR     WAR. 

URING  the  war  in  Spain  a  French  regiment  had  been  sent  out  from 
Burgos  against  a  guerilla  party  under  the  Marquis  of  Villa  Campo, 
with  orders  to  treat  the  Spaniards  with  the  most  rigorous  severity, 
especially  the  inhabitants  of  Arguano,  a  little  village  near  the 
famous  forest  of  Covelleda,  whose  deep  shades,  intersected  only  by  narrow  foot- 
paths, were  the  resort  of  banditti  and  guerillas.  A  principal  feature  of  the  whole 
Spanish  war  was  the  celerity  with  which  the  French  movements  were  notified 
to  the  native  chiefs,  and  the  difficulty  experienced  in  procuring  a  spy  or  guide  ; 
while  these  when  found  proved  almost  uniformly  treacherous 

The  battalion  in  question  had  to  march  through  a  frightful  country,  climbing 
rugged  rocks  and  crossing  frozen  torrents,  always  in  dread  of  unforeseen  and 
sudden  dangers.  They  reached  the  village,  but  perceived  no  movement — 
heard  no  noise.  Some  soldiers  advanced,  but  saw  nothing — absolute  solitude 
reigned. 

The  officer  in  command,  suspecting  a  ambush,  ordered  the  utmost  circum- 
spection. The  troops  entered  the  street,  and  arrived  at  a  small  opening  where 
some  sheaves  of  wheat  and   Indian  corn  and  a  quantity  of  loaves  were  still 


A  TRAGEDY   OF  THE  PENINSULAR  WAR. 


109 


smoking  on  the  ground,  but  consumed  to  a  cinder,  aud  swimming  in  floods  ot 
wine,  which  had  streamed  from  leathern  skins  that  had  evidently  been  purposely- 
broached,  as  the  provisions  had  been  burnt,  to  prevent  their  falling  into  the 
hands  of  the  French. 

No  sooner  had  the  soldiers  satisfied  themselves  that,  after  all  their  toils  and 
dangers,  no  refreshment  was  to  be  obtained,  then  they  roared  with  rage — but 
no  vengeance  was  within  reach  !  All  the  inhabitants  had  fled  ! — fled  into  the 
forest,  where  they  might  defy  pursuit. 

Suddenly  cries  were  heard  issuing  from  one  of  the  deserted  cottages,  amongst 
which  the  soldiers  had  dispersed  themselves  in  hopes  of  discovering  some  food 
or  booty  ;  they  proceeded  from  a  young  woman  holding  a  child  a  year  old  in 
her  arms,  whom  the  soldiers  were  dragging  before  their  lieutenant. 

"Stay,  lieutenant,"  said  one  of  them  ;  "here  is  a  woman  we  have  found 
sitting  beside  an  old  one  who  is  past  speaking  :  question  her  a  little." 

She  was  dressed  in  the  peasant  costume  of  the  Soria  and  Rioja  mountains, 
and  was  pale,  but  not  trembling. 

"  Why  are  you  alone  here  ?  "  asked  the  lieutenant  in  Spanish. 

"  I  stayed  with  my  grandmother,  who  is  paralytic,  and  could  not  follow  the 
rest  to  the  forest,"  replied  she  haughtily,  as  if  vexed  at  being  obliged  to  drop 
a  word  in  presence  of  a  Frenchman  ;  "  I  stayed  to  take  care  of  her." 

"  Why,  have  your  neighbours  left  the  village  .''" 

The  Spaniard's  eyes  flashed  fire  ;  she  fixed  on  the  lieutenant  a  look  of 
strange  import,  and  answered,  **  You  know  very  well.  Were  they  all  not  to  be 
massacred  .-'  " 

The  lieutenant  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "  But  why  did  you  burn  the  bread 
and  wheat,  and  empty  the  wine-skins  ?  " 

"  That  you  might  find  nothing.  As  they  could  not  carry  them  off,  there  was 
no  alternative  but  burning  them." 

At  this  moment  shouts  of  joy  arose,  and  the  soldiers  appeared  carrying  a 
number  of  hams,  some  loaves,  and,  more  welcome  than  all,  several  skins  of 
wine —  all  discovered  in  a  vault,  the  entrance  of  which  was  concealed  by  the 
straw  that  the  old  woman  was  lying  on.  The  young  peasant  darted  on 
them  a  look  of  infernal  vengeance,  while  the  lieutenant,  who  had  pondered 
with  anxiety  on  the  destitute  and  sinking  condition  of  his  troops,  rejoiced  for  a 
moment  in  the  unexpected  supply.  But  the  recent  poisoning  of  several  cisterns, 
and  other  fearful  examples,  putting  him  on  his  guard,  he  again  interrogated 
the  woman. 

"  Whence  come  these  provisions  ?" 

"  They  are  the  same  as  those  we  burnt ;  we  concealed  them  from  our 
friends," 

"  Is  your  husband  with  the  brigands  yonder  ? " 

"  My  husband  is  in  heaven,"  said  she,  lifting  up  her  eyes  ;  "  he  died  for  the 
good  cause — that  of  God  and  King  Ferdinand." 


'«..«,-«  Mjtm^^M 


M  W^-iTM^i 


no  A  TRAGEDY   OF  THE  PENINSULAR  WAR. 

"  Have  you  any  brother  amongst  them  ? " 

"  I  have  no  longer  a  tie,  except  my  poor  child  ;"  and  she  pressed  the  infant 
to  her  heart.  The  poor  litt'ie  creature  was  thin  and  sallow,  but  its  large  black 
eyes  glistened  as  they  turned  to  its  mother. 

"  Commander,'' exclaimed  one  of  the  soldiers,  "pray  order  division  of  the 
booty,  for  we  are  hungry  and  devilish  thirsty  !  " 

"  One  moment,  my  children.  Listen,"  said  he,  eyeing  the  young  woman 
with  suspicious  inquisition  ;  "these  provisions  are  good,  I  hope  .'"' 

"How  should  they  be  otherwise  ?"  replied  the  Spaniard  contemptuosly ; 
"  they  were  not  for  you." 

"  Well,  here's  to  thy  health,  then,  Demonia,"  said  a  young  sub-lieutenant, 
opening  one  of  the  skins,  and  preparing  for  a  draught  ;  but  his  more  prudent 
commander  still  restrained  him. 

"  One  moment.     Since  this  wine  is  good,  you  will  not  object  to  a  glass  ?  " 

"  Oh  dear,  no,  as  much  as  you  please  ;  "  and  accepting  the  mess-glass  offered 
by  the  lieutenant  she  emptied  it  without  hesitation. 

"  Huzza  !  huzza  1  "  shouted  the  soldiers,  delighted  at  the  prospect  of  drinking 
without  danger. 

"  And  your  child  will  drink  some  also  ? "  said  the  lieutenant  ;  "he  is  so  pale, 
it  will  do  him  good." 

The  Spaniard  had  herself  drunk  without  hesitation,  but  in  holding  the  cup 
to  her  infant's  lips  her  hand  trembled  ;  the  motion  was,  however,  unperceived, 
and  the  child  also  emptied  his  glass. 

Thereupon  the  provisions  speedily  disappeared,  and  all  partook  both  of  food 
and  wine.  Suddenly,  however,  the  infant  was  observed  to  turn  livid  ;  its  features 
contracted,  and  its  mouth,  convulsed  with  agony,  gave  vent  to  piteous  shrieks. 
The  mother,  too,  though  her  fortitude  suppressed  all  complaint,  could  scarcely 
stand,  and  her  distorted  features  betrayed  her  sufferings. 

"  Wretch  i  "  exclaimed  the  commandant,  "  thou  hast  poisoned  us  !  " 

"  Yes,"  she  said,  with  a  ghastly  smile,  falling  to  the  ground  beside  her  child, 
already  struggling  with  the  death-rattle — "  yes,  I  have  poisoned  you.  I  knew 
you  would  fetch  the  skins  from  their  hiding-place  ;  was  it  likely  you  would  leave 
a  dying  creature  undisturbed  on  her  litter  }  Yes,  yes,  you  will  die,  and  die  in 
perdition,  while  I  shall  go  to  heaven." 

Her  last  words  were  scarcely  audible,  and  the  soldiers  at  first  did  not  com- 
prehend the  full  horror  of  their  situation  ;  but  as  the  poison  operated,  tlie 
Spaniard's  declaration  was  legibly  translated  in  her  convulsed  features.  No 
power  could  longer  restrain  them  ;  in  vain  their  commander  interposed  ;  they 
repulsed  him,  and,  dragging  their  expiring  victim  by  the  hair  to  the  brink  of 
the  torrent,  threw  her  into  it,  aft»r  lacerating  her  with  more  than  a  hundred 
sabre-strokes.  She  uttered  not  a  groan.  As  for  the  child,  it  was  the  first  victim. 

Twenty-two  men  were  destroyed  by  this  exploit,  which  cannot  be  called 
otherwise  than  heroic.     The  commandant  himself  escaped  by  a  miracle. 


I  )A  1  \^\    .w 


"•YES,  I  HAVE  POISONED  YOU'"  (p.  no). 


*   ^4  «■•«'■'«'> a"-' A**"'^*^'«-« J*. .«  «  m 


'k     i^    'M     M    ^ 


112  HOW  A  FORT  WAS  TAKEN. 

II. HOW    A    FORT    WAS    TAKEN. 

In  1756  Admiral  Watson,  having  sailed  with  the  squadron  and  the  King's 
troops  from  Fort  St.  David,  in  the  East  Indies,  to  the  assistance  of  Calcutta, 
stopped  at  Mayapore,  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges,  where  the  enemy  had  a 
place  of  considerable  strength,  called  the  Bougce  Fort,  which  it  was  necessary 
to  secure  before  he  proceeded  on  his  expedition. 

The  action  began  with  a  brisk  cannonade  from  the  squadron,  which  soon 
silenced  the  cannon  of  the  fort  ;  but  the  garrison  not  offering  to  surrender,  and 
continuing  to  discharge  fire-arrows  and  small-arms,  it  was  determined  in  a 
council  of  sea  and  land  officers  that  Colonel  Clive  should  endeavour  to  take  it 
by  assault.  For  this  purpose,  at  five  in  the  evening,  the  Admiral  landed  an 
officer,  two  midshipmen,  and  about  forty  sailors  from  each  ship,  under  the 
command  of  Captain  King,  to  assist  Clive  in  storming  the  fort  ;  which  he  in- 
tended doing  just  before  daylight,  under  the  cover  of  two  twenty-four  pounders 
close  to  the  ditch.  In  the  meantime  the  colonel  had  given  directions  that  the 
whole  army  (the  necessary  guards  excepted),  and  the  detachment  from  the 
ships,  should  rest  on  the  ground,  in  order  to  recover  themselves  as  much  as 
possible  from  the  great  fatigues  they  had  undergone  the  preceding  day. 

All  was  now  quiet  in  the  camp.  We  on  board  the  ships,  that  lay  at  their 
anchors  at  but  a  small  distance  from  the  shore,  had  entertained  thoughts  of 
making  use  of  this  interval  to  refresh  ourselves  also  with  an  hour  or  two  of 
sleep,  when  suddenly  a  loud  and  universal  acclamation  was  heard  from  the 
shore  ;  and  soon  after,  the  account  was  brought  to  the  Admiral  that  the  fort 
had  been  taken  by  storm. 

This  was  a  joyful  piece  of  news,  and  the  more  so  as  it  was  quite  unexpected  ; 
but  when  the  particular  circumstances  that  ushered  in  this  success  were 
related,  our  exultation  was  greatly  diminished,  because  we  found  that  the 
discipline  so  indispensably  necessary  in  all  naval  exploits  had  been  entirely 
disregarded  in  the  present  instance,  and  therefore  could  not  help  looking  upon 
the  person  who  had  the  principal  hand  in  this  victory  rather  as  an  object  of 
chastisement  than  of  applause. 

The  case  was  this  : — During  the  tranquil  state  of  the  camp,  one  Strahan,  a 
common  sailor,  belonging  to  the  Kent,  having  just  received  his  allowance  of 
grog,  found  his  spirits  too  much  elated  to  think  of  taking  any  rest.  He 
therefore  strayed  by  himself  towards  the  fort,  and  imperceptibly  got  under 
the  walls.  Being  advanced  thus  far  without  interruption,  he  took  it  into  his 
head  to  scale  a  breach  that  had  been  made  by  the  cannon  of  the  ships  : 
and  having  fortunately  reached  the  bastion,  he  there  discovered  several 
Moors  sitting  upon  the  platform,  at  whom  he  flourished  his  cutlass  and 
then  fired  his  pistol,  and,  having  given  three  loud  huzzas,  cried  out,  *'  The 
place  is  mine  !  " 


*.''  it> 


HOW  A  FORT  WAS  TAKEN. 


"3 


<» 


The  Moorish  soldiers  immediately  attacked  him,  and  he  defended  himself 
with  incredible  resolution  ;  but  in  the  encounter  he  had  the  misfortune  to  have 
the  blade  of  his  cutlass  cut  in  two,  about  a  foot  from  the  hilt.  This,  however, 
did  not  happen  until  he  was  warmly  supported  by  two  or  three  other  sailors 
who  had  accidentally  straggled  to  the  same  part  of  the  fort  on  which  the  other 
had  mounted.     They,  hearing  Strahan's  cries,  immediately  scaled   the  breach 


'  'THE    PLACE    IS    MINe!  '  " 


likewise,  and  with  their  triumphant  shouts  roused  the  whole  army,  who, 
taking  the  alarm,  presently  fell  on  pell-mell,  without  order  and  without  discipline, 
following  the  example  of  the  sailors. 

This  attack,  though  made  in  such  confusion,  was  followed  with  no  other  ill- 
consequence  but  the  death  of  the  worthy  Captain  Dougall  Campbell,  who  was 
unfortunately  killed  by  a  musket  bullet  from  one  of  our  own  pieces  in  the 
general  confusion.  Captain  Coote  commanded  the  fort  for  that  night,  and  at 
daybreak  the  fort  saluted  the  Admiral. 

Strahan,  the  hero  of  this  adventure,  was  soon  brought  before  the  Admiral, 
who,  notwithstanding  the  success  that  had  attended  it,  thought  it  necessary  to 
show    himself  displeased  with    a    measure    in    which    the    want   of  all     naval 


i  'ti  «  ^'i'^^^^^l^^m^m^M'J^JU^J^J^■'" 


114  THE  COVENANTER. 

discipline  so  notoriously  appeared.  He  there-fore  angrily  inquired  into  the 
desperate  step  which  he  had  taken — 

"  Strahan,  what  is  this  that  you  have  been  doing  ? " 

The  sailor  made  his  bow,  scratched  his  head  with  one  hand,  and,  twirling 
his  hat  in  the  other,  replied,  "  Why,  to  be  sure,  sir,  it  was  I  who  took  the 
fort  ;  but  I  hope,  your  honour,  as  how  there  was  no  harm  in  it." 

The  Admiral  with  difficulty  refrained  from  smiling  at  the  simplicity  of 
Strahan's  answer,  and  having  expatiated  largely  on  the  fatal  consequences  that 
might  have  attended  his  irregular  conduct,  with  a  severe  rebuke  dismissed 
him,  but  not  before  he  had  given  Strahan  some  distant  hints  that  at  a  proper 
opportunity  he  would  be  certainly  punished  for  his  temerity.  Strahan,  amazed 
to  find  himself  blamed  where  he  expected  praise,  had  no  sooner  gone  from  the 
Admiral's  cabin  than  he  muttered  to  himself,  ''  If  I  am  flogged  for  this  here 
action,  I'll  never  take  another  fort  by  myself  as  long  as  I  live." 

The  novelty  ot  the  case,  the  success  of  the  enterprise,  and  the  courageous 
spirit  which  he  had  displayed,  pleaded  strongly  with  the  Admiral  on  behalf  of 
the  offender,  and  yet  at  the  same  time  the  discipline  of  the  service  required 
that  he  should  show  him  outwardly  some  marks  of  his  displeasure.  This  the 
Admiral  did  for  some  little  time,  but  afterwards,  at  the  intercession  of  some 
officers  (which  intercession  the  Admiral  himself  prompted  them  to  make),  he 
most  readily  pardoned  him.  And  it  is  not  improbable  that,  had  Strahan 
been  proper  qualified  for  the  office  of  boatswain,  the  Admiral,  before  the 
expedition  had  ended,  would  have  promoted  Strahan  to  that  station  in  one  of 
His  Majesty's  ships  ;  but,  unfortunately  for  this  brave  fellow,  the  whole  tenor 
of  his  conduct,  both  before  and  after  the  storming  of  the  fort,  was  so  very 
irregular  as  to  render  it  impossible  for  the  Admiral  to  advance  him. 

Strahan  subsequently  served  in  every  one  of  Admiral  Pocock's  engagements 
in  the  West  Indies,  and  afterwards,  in  consequence  of  a  wouud,  became  a 
pensioner  to  the  Chest  at  Chatham.  '•  At  present,"  says  the  writer  of  the  above 
account,  which  is  taken  from  the  Naval  Chronicle  "he  acts  as  a  sailor  in 
one  of  the  guardships  at  Portsmouth,  and  says  that  his  highest  ambition 
is  to  be  made  cook  of  one  of  Hio  Majesty's  capital  ships  !  " 

ra.— THE  COVENANTER. 

Our  next  episode  is  taken  from  "  Peden's  Life,"  and  the  scene  is  laid  in 
Scotland,  at  the  date  of  Bothwell  Brigg  and  the  merciless  persecution  of  the 
Covenanters  by  Graham  of  Claverliouse. 

'•  One  morning,  in  those  evil  days,  a  man  of  the  name  of  John  Brown, 
having  performed  the  worship  of  God  in  his  family,  was  going  with  a  spade 
in  his  hand  to  make  ready  some  peat-ground.  The  mist  being  very  dark, 
he  knew  not  where  he  was,  till  the  bloody  Claverhouse  compassed  him  with 
three  troops  of  his  horse,  brought  him  to  his  house,  and  there  examined  him. 


THE  COVENANTER.  115 

"John  Brown,  though  a  man  of  stammering  speech,  yet  answered  him 
both  distinctly  and  solidly,  which  made  Claverhouse  examine  those  whom  he 
had  taken  to  be  his  guides  through  the  moors,  if  they  had  heard  him 
preach.  They  answered,  *  No,  no,  he  was  never  a  preacher.'  To  which 
he  replied,  '  If  he  has  never  preached,  meikle  has  he  prayed  in  his  time.'  He 
then  said  to  John,  '  Go  to  your  prayers,  for  you  shall  immediately  die.' 

"When  he  was  praying,  Claverhouse  interrupted  him  three  times.  One  time 
that  he  interrupted  him  he  was  praying  that  the  Lord  would  spare  a  remnant, 
and  not  make  a  full  end  in  the  day  of  His  anger.  Claverhouse  said,  '  I  gave  you 
time  to  pray,  and  you  are  begun  to  preach.'  He  turned  on  his  knees  and  said, 
'  Sir,  you  know  neither  the  nature  of  prayer  nor  preaching,  that  call  this 
preaching  ;'  and  then  continued  without  confusion. 

"  His  wife  standing  by,  with  her  children  in  her  arms,  he  came  to  her  and 
said,  '  Now,  Marion,  the  day  is  come  that  I  told  you  would  come  when  I  first 
spoke  to  you  of  marrying  me.'  She  said,  *  Indeed,  John,  I  can  willingly 
part  with  you.'  Then  he  said,  *  This  is  all  I  desire  ;  I  have  no  more  to  do  but 
to  die.' 

"  He  kissed  his  wife  and  bairns,  and  wished  purchased  and  promised 
blessings  to  be  poured  upon  them,  and  gave  them  his  blessing.  Claverhouse 
ordered  six  soldiers  to  shoot  him.  The  most  part  of  the  bullets  came  upon  his 
head,  which  scattered  the  brains  upon  the  ground.  Then  said  Claverhouse  to 
the  hapless  widow,  *  What  thinkest  thou  of  thy  husband  now,  woman.''  To 
which  she  answered,  '  I  thought  ever  much  of  him,  and  now  as  much  as 
ever.'  He  said,  '  It  were  but  justice  to  lay  thee  beside  him.'  She  replied,  •  If 
ye  were  permitted,  I  doubt  not  your  cruelty  would  go  that  length  ;  but  how 
will  ye  mak  answer  for  this  morning's  work  ? '  '  To  men,'  said  he,  *  I  can  be 
answerable  ;  and  for  God,  I  will  take  Him  in  mine  own  hand.' 

**  Claverhouse  mounted  his  horse  and  left  her  with  the  corpse  of  her  dead 
husband  lying  there  ;  she  set  the  bairn  on  the  ground,  and  gathered  his  brains, 
and  tied  up  his  head,  and  straightened  his  body,  and  covered  him  with  her 
plaid,  and  sat  down  and  wept  over  him.  It  being  a  very  desert  place,  where 
never  a  victual  grew,  and  far  from  neighbours,  it  was  some  time  before  any 
friends  came  to  her.  The  first  that  came  was  a  very  fit  hand,  that  old  singular 
Christian  woman  in  the  Cummerhead,  named  Elizabeth  Menzies,  three  miles 
distant,  who  had  been  tried  with  the  violent  death  of  her  husband  at  Pentland, 
afterwards  of  two  worthy  sons — Thomas  Weir,  who  was  killed  at  Drumclog  ; 
and  David  Steele,  who  was  suddenly  shot  afterwards  when  taken.  The  said 
Marion,  sitting  upon  her  husband's  grave,  told  me  that  before  this  she  could 
see  no  blood  but  she  was  in  danger  to  faint ;  and  yet  she  was  helped  to  be  a 
witness  to  all  this  without  either  fainting  or  confusion,  except,  when  the  shots 
let  off,  her  eyes  were  dazzled.  His  corpse  was  buried  at  the  end  of  the  house 
where  he  was  slain." 


^    '4'^  '1  &   4k    A   i^   m   JSf  j^"^ 


xz6 


A  DESPERATE  ERRAND 


THE  ADVENTURE  OF  GRIZEL  COCHRANE. 


T  Edinburgh,  almost  under  the  shadow  of  the  spire  of  St.  Giles's,  in 
the  pavement  between  that  old  cathedral  church  and  the  County 
Hall,  the  passer-by  will  mark  the  figure  of  a  heart  let  into  the 
causeway,  and  know  that  he  fs  standing  on  the  "Heart  of  Mid- 
lothian," the  site  of  the  old  Tolbooth.  That  gloomy  pile  vanished  in  the 
autumn  of  1817  ;  as  Mr.  Stevenson  says,  "the  walls  are  now  down  in  the  dust  ; 
there  is  no  more  squalor  carceris  for  merry  debtors,  no  more  cage  for  the  old 
acknowledged  prison-breaker  ;  but  the  sun  and  the  wind  play  freely  over  the 
foundations  of  the  gaol  ;"  this  place,  "old  in  story  and  name-father  to  a  noble 
book.''  The  author  of  that  same  "  noble  book "  possessed  himself  of  some 
memorials  of  the  keep  he  had  rendered  so  famous,  securing  the  stones  of  the 
gateway,  and  the  door  with  its  ponderous  fastenings  to  decorate  the  entrance  of 
his  kitchen-court  at  Abbotsford.     And  this  is  all  that  is  left. 

But  in  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1685  the  Tolbooth  held  prisoners  enough, 
notwithstanding  the  many  gloomy  processions  that  were  from  time  to  time 
walking  to  the  axe  and  halter  in  the  Grassmarket ;  and  in  a  narrow  cell,  late 
one  August  evening,  two  persons  were  sitting  of  whom  this  story  shall  treat. 
These  two  were  Sir  John  Cochrane,  of  Ochiltree,  and  his  daughter  Grizel — here 
on  the  saddest  of  errands,  to  visit  her  father  in  prison  and  help  in  his  prepara- 
tions for  death. 

For  Sir  John,  a  stout  Whig,  had  been  one  of  the  leaders  of  Argyle's 
insurrection  ;  had  been  beaten  with  his  troops  by  Lord  Ross  at  Muirdykes; 
had  disbanded  his  handful  of  men,  and  f^ed  for  hiding  to  the  house  of  his 
uncle,  Mr.  Gavin  Cochrane,  of  Craigmuir  ;  had  been  informed  against  by  his 
uncle's  wife,  seized,  taken  to  Edinburgh  ;  had  been  paraded,  bound  and  bare- 
headed, through  the  streets  by  the  common  executioner  ;  and  then  on  the  3d 
of  July  flung  into  the  Tolbooth  to  await  his  trial  for  high  treason.  And  now 
the  trial,  too,  was  over,  and  Sir  John  was  condemned  to  die. 

As  he  now  sat,  with  bowed  head,  on  the  bench  of  his  cell,  it  was  not  the 
stroke  of  death  that  terrified  him  —  for  Sir  John  was  a  brave  man  —  but  tha 
parting  with  his  children,  who  would  through  his  rashness  be  left  both  orphaned 
and  penniless  (  for  the  Crown  would  seize  his  goods  ),  and  chiefly  the  parting 
with  his  daughter,  who  had  been  his  one  comfort  in  the  dark  days  of  waiting 
for  the  King's  warrant  of  execution  to  arrive. 

Between   his    apprehension    and  his  trial    no  friend  or  kinsman   had    been 


A  DESPERATE  ERRAND. 


117 


allowed  to  visit  him  ;  but  now  that  his  death  was  assured,  greater  license  had 
been  granted.  But,  anxious  to  deprive  his  enemies  of  a  chance  to  accuse  his 
sons,  he  had  sent  them  his  earnest  entreaties  and  commands  that  they  should 
abstain  from  using  this  pcrmisson  until  the  night  before  his  execution.  They 
had  obeyed  ;  but  obedience  of  this  sort  did  not  satisfy  the  conscience  of  his 
daughter  Grizel.  On  the  very  night  of  his  condemnation  he  heard  the  key 
turn  in  his  door  ;  thinking  it  could  only  be  the  gaoler,  he  scarcely  lifted  his 
eyes  But  next  moment  a  pair  of  soft  arms  were  flung  round  his  neck,  and 
his  daughter  weeping  on  his  breast.  From  that  day  she  had  continued  to  visit 
him  ;  and  now  as  she  sat  beside  him,  staring  at  the  light  already  fading  in 
the  narrow  pane,  both  father  and  daughter  knew  that  it  was  almost  the  last  time. 

Presently  she  spoke  — 

"  And  this   message  —  tell  me  truly,  have  you  any  hope  from  it  ?  " 

It  was  an  appeal  made  by  Sir  John's  father,  the  Earl  of  Dundonald,  to 
Father  Peters,  the  King's  confessor,  who  often  dictated  to  him,  as  was  well 
known,  on  matters  of  State.  But  in  the  short  time  left,  would  there  be  time 
to  press  this  appeal,  and  exert  that  influence  in  London  which  alone  could  stay 
the  death-warrant  ? 

"  There  is  no  hope  in  that  quarter,"  said  Sir  John. 

Grizel  knew  that  he  spoke  only  what  was  her  own  conviction,  and  her 
despair. 

"  Argyle  is  dead  these  three  days,"  pursued  her  father,  "  and  with  him  men 
of  less  consequence  than  I.  Are  they  likely  to  spare  me — a  head  of  the  rising  > 
Would  they  spare  any  man  now,  in  the  heat  of  their  revenge  ?" 

"Father,"  said  Grizel  suddenly,  "could  you  spare  me  from  your  side  for  a 
few  days  .''  " 

Sir  John  looked  up.  He  knew  by  her  manner  that  she  had  formed  some 
plan  in  her  mind  ;  he  knew,  too,  from  her  heart,  that  nothing  but  a  chance  of 
winning  his  safety  could  take  her  from  him  now,  of  all  times. 

"  My  child,"  he  said,  "  you  are  going  to  attempt  something." 

She  nodded,  with  a  brighter  face  than  she  had  worn  for  many  days. 

"  And  what  you  would  attempt,"  he  went  on,  "  is  an  impossibility." 

"  Nothing  is  impossible  to  a  true  heart,"  she  said. 

"  And  who  will  help  you  .'' " 

"  No  one."  She  was  standing  before  him  now,  and  in  the  twilight  he  could 
see  her  eyes  lit  up  with  hope,  her  figure  upright,  and  as  if  full  of  a  man's 
strength. 

"  My  girl,  you  will  run  into  danger  —  into  blame.  They  will  not  spare  you, 
and: — do  you  know  the  characters  of  those  men  whom  you  would  have  to  sue  .-*  " 

She  bent  and  kissed  him. 

"  I  am  a  Cochrane,  my  father." 

Early  next  morning,  before  the  world  was  up,  Grizel  Cochrane  was   mounted 


M     <M    "^^     ifii     ^     ^     .^      >^^.^*^.Ar 


m  1 


^^  m 


ii8  A  DESPERATE  ERRAND. 

on  horseback  and  riding-  towards  the  border.  She  had  dressed  herself — this  girl 
of  eighteen —  as  a  young  serving-woman,  and  when  she  drew  rein  at  a  wayside 
cottage,  for  food  and  drink,  professed  herself  journeying  on  a  borrowed  horse  to 
visit  her  mother's  house,  across  the  Tweed, 

By  noon  Edinburgh  was  some  leagues  behind,  but   she  pressed   on  through 

that  day  and  most  of  the 
following  night.  On  the 
second  day  after  leaving 
Edinburgh  she  crossed  the 
Tweed,  and  came  in  safety 
to  the  home  of  an  old 
nurse,  on  the  English  side, 
four  miles  beyond  the 
town  of  Berwick. 

"  Gude  sakes  !  "  cried 
the  old  woman,  who  was 
standing  at  her  cottage 
door  and  was  rather 
astonished  to  find  the 
horsewoman  draw  rein, 
leap  to  the  ground,  and 
plant  a  kiss  on  either  cheek 
— "  Gude  sakes  !  if  it  isna 
Miss  Grizel  I " 

"  Quickly,        into      the 

house  !  "  commanded    her 

young  mistress  ;    "I  have 

somewhat     to     tell     that 

will  not  wait  an  hour." 

She  knew  the  old  nurse  was    to  be  trusted,  and   therefore  told    her  story  and 

her  secret.      "Even  now,"  she  said  at  the   end  of  her  story,  "the  postman  is 

riding  from  London  with  the  warrant  in  his  bag.     I  must  stop  him  and  make 

him  give  it  up  to  me,  or  my  father's  head  is  the  penalty." 

"  But    what    use   to    talk    o'  this,  when    the    postman    is  a    stout    rider,    and 
armed    to  boot  .-^    How  is  a  mere  girl,  saving  your  presence,  to  do   this  at  all  ?" 
"Look  here." 

Grizel  uuroUed  a  bundle  which  she  had  brought  on  her  saddle-crutch  from 
Edinburgh  ;  it  held  a  horseman's  cloak  and  a  brace  of  pistols. 

"  Now,"  said  she,  "  where  are  the  clothes  of  Donald,  my  foster-brother  .''  He 
was  a  slight  lad  in  times  syne,  and  little  doubt  they'll  fit  me." 

For  this  was  indeed  the  brave  girl's  plan  : — In  those  times  the  mail  from 
London  took  eight  days  on  its  journey  to  Edinburgh  ;  by  possessing  herself  of 
the  warrant  for  her  father's  death  and  detaining  it,   she   could    count  on   the 


"SHE    PULLKD    OUT   THE    I'lSI'OLS"    (/.    I20). 


A  DESPERATE  ERRAND. 


119 


delay  of  sixteen  or  seventeen  days  at  least  before  application  could  be  made 
for  a  second,  and  that  signed  and  sent  to  the  Scotch  capital.  By  this  delay, 
time  enough  would  be  won  for  her  friends  in  London  to  use  all  their  influence 
to  quash  the  sentence. 

It  was  a  mad  scheme  ;  but,  as  she  had  said,  nothing  is  impossible  to  a  true 
heart.  She  had  possessed  herself,  too,  of  the  minutest  information  with  regard 
to  the  places  where  the  postmen  rested  on  their  journey.  One  of  these  places, 
she  knew,  was  a  small  inn  kept  by  a  widow  on  the  outskirts  of  the  little  town 
of  Belford.  There  the  man  who  received  the  bag  at  Durham  was  accustomed 
to  arrive  at  about  six  in  the  morning,  and  take  a  few  hours'  sleep  before 
going  on  with  his  journey.  And  at  Belford,  Grizel  Cochrane  had  determined 
to  meet  him. 

Taking  leave  of  her  faithful  nurse,  she  rode  southwards  again,  and,  timing 
her  pace,  drew  up  before  the  inn  at  Belford  just  an  hour  after  the  postman 
had  come  in  from  the  south  and  disposed  himself  to  sleep. 

The  mistress  of  the  inn  had  no  ostler,  so  Grizel  stabled  her  horse  with  her 
own  hands,  and  striding  into  the  inn-parlor,  demanded  food  and  drink. 

"  Sit  ye  down,  then,"  answered  the  old  woman,  "at  the  end  of  yon  table, 
for  the  best  I  have  to  give  you  is  there  already.  And  be  pleased,  my  bonny 
man,  to  make  as  little  noise  as  may  be  ;  for  there's  one  asleep  in  that  bed  that 
I  like  ill  to  disturb." 

She  pointed  to  the  victuals  on  the  board,  which  were  indeed  the  remains 
of  the  sleeping  man's  meal.  Grizel  sat  down  before  them,  considered  to  herself 
while  she  played  with  a  mouthful  or  two,  and  then  asked  — 

•'  Can  I  have  a  drink  of  water  ?" 

" 'Deed,"  answered  the  hostess,  "and  are  ye  a  water-drinker.?  'Tis  but  an 
ill-custom  for  a  change-house." 

"  Why,  that  I  know  ;  and  so,  when  I  put  up  at  an  inn,  'tis  my  custom  always 
to  pay  for  it  the  price  of  stronger  drink,  which  I  cannot  take." 

"  Indeed  —  well,  that's  fairly  spoken  ;  and,  come  to  think  of  it,  'tis  but  just.' 
The  landlady  brought  a  jug  of  water  and  set  it  on  the  board. 

"  Is  the  well  where  you  got  this  water  near  at  hand  .-*  "  said  Grizel,  pouring 
out  a  glass  and  sipping  at  it ;  *' for  if 'tis  no  trouble  to  fetch  some  fresh  for 
me,  I  will  tell  you  this  is  rather  over-warm  and  flat.  Your  trouble  shall  be 
considered  in  the  lawing,"  added  she. 

" 'Tis  a  good  step  off,"  answered  the  dame  ;  "  but  I  cannot  refuse  to  fetch 
for  so  civil,  discreet  a  lad  —  and  a  well-favored  one,  besides  So  bide  ye  here, 
and  I'll  be  as  quick  as  I  maun.  But  for  any  sake  take  care  and  don't  meddle 
with  the  man's  pistols  there,  for  they  are  loaded,  the  both  ;  and  every  time  I 
set  eyes  on  them  they  scare  me  out  of  my  senses,  almost." 

She  took  up  a  pitcher  and  went  out  to  draw  the  water.  No  sooner  was 
Grizel  left  alone  than,  starting  up,  she  waited  for  a  moment,  listening  to  the 
footsteps  as  they  died  away  in  the  distance,  and  then  crept  swiftly  across  the 


jAf        wi.    -r.... 


I20  A  DESPERATE  ERRAND. 

floor  to  the  place  where  the  postman  lay  asleep.  He  lay  in  one  of  those  close 
wooden  bedsteads,  like  cupboards,  which  were  then  common  in  the  houses  of 
the  poor,  and  to  this  day  may  be  seen  in  many  a  house  in  Brittany.  The  door 
of  it  was  left  half-open,  to  give  the  sleeper  air,  and  from  this  aperture  the  noise 
of  his  snoring  issued  in  a  way  that  shook  the  house. 

Nevertheless,  it  seemed  to  the  girl  that  he  must  be  awakened  by  the 
creaking  of  the  floor  under  her  light  footfall.  With  heart  in  mouth  she  stole 
up  to  the  bedstead,  and  gently  pulling  the  door  still  wider  ajar,  peeped  in,  in 
the  hope  of  seeing  the  mail-bag  and  being  able  to  pounce  upon  it. 

She  saw  it,  indeed  ;  but  to  her  dismay,  it  lay  beneath  the  shaggy  head  of 
its  guardian  —  a  giant  in  size.  The  postman  used  his  charge  as  a  pillow,  and 
had  flung  himself  so  heavily  across  it  as  to  give  not  the  faintest  hope  that 
any  one  could  pull  it  away  without  disturbing  its  keeper  from  his  nap.  Nothing 
could  be  done  now.  In  those  few  bitter  moments,  during  which  she  stood 
helplessly  looking  from  the  bag  which  contained  the  fatal  warrant  to  the 
unconscious  face  of  the  man  before  her,  Grizel  made  up  her  mind  to 
another  plan. 

She  turned  to  the  table,  caught  up  the  postman's  holsters,  and  pulled  out 
thr  pistols  of  which  the  old  woman  had  professed  herself  in  such  terror. 
Quickly  drawing  and  secreting  the  charges,  she  returned  them  to  their  cases, 
with  many  an  anxious  look  over  her  shoulder  towards  the  bedstead,  and  took 
her  seat  again  at  the  foot  of  the  table. 

Hardly  had  she  done  so  when  she  heard  the  old  woman  returning  with  the 
pitcher.  Grizel  took  a  draught,  for  her  throat  felt  like  a  lime-kiln,  and  having 
settled  her  bill,  much  to  the  landlady's  satisfaction,  by  paying  for  the  water  the 
price  of  a  pot  of  beer,  prepared  to  set  off.  She  carelessly  asked  and  ascertained 
how  much  longer  the  other  guest  was  likely  to  sleep. 

"  By  the  noise  he  makes  he  intends  sleeping  till  Doomsday,"  she  said, 
laughing. 

"  Ay,  poor  man  !  his  is  a  hard  life,"  said  the  hostess  ;  "  and  little  more  than 
half  an  hour  more  before  he  must  be  on  the  highway  again," 

Grizel  laughed  once  more,  and,  mounting  her  horse,  set  off  at  a  trot  along 
the  road  southward,  as  if  continuing  her  journey  in  that  direction. 

Hardly  had  she  got  beyond  the  town,  however,  when  turning  the  horse's 
head  she  galloped  back,  making  a  circuit  around  Bclford  and  striking  into  the 
high  road  again  between  that  place  and  Berwick.  Having  gained  it,  she  walked 
the  horse  gently  on,  awaiting  the  coming  up  of  the  postman. 

Though  all  her  mind  was  now  set  on  the  enterprise  before  her,  she  could 
not  help  a  shiver  of  terror  as  she  thought  on  tiie  chance  of  her  tampering 
with  the  pistols  being  discovered,  and  their  loading  replaced.  But  she  had 
chosen  her  course,  and  now  she  must  go  through  with  it.  She  was  a  woman, 
after  all  ;  and  it  cannot  be  wondered  that  her  heart  began  to  beat  quickly  as 
her  ear  caught  the  sound  of  hoofs  on  the  road  behind  her,  and,  turning,  she  saw 


A   DESPERATE  ERRAND. 


I2t 


ihe  man  on  whose  face  she  had  been  gazing  not  an  hour  before,  trotting  briskly 
towards  her — the  mail-bags  (there  were  two  —  one  containing  the  letters  direct 


"'THAT   MAIL  I   MUST   AND  WILL  HAVE.      CHOOSE,    THEN*"    ( /.  122). 

from    London,  the  other   those  taken   up  at   the  different  post-offices  on  the 
road)  strapped  one  on  each  side  of  his  saddle  in  front,  close  to  the  holsters. 
At  the  last  moment  her  nerve  came  back,  and  as  he  drew  near  she  saluted 


A  a-  ^  &'^:j^^'J^^^j^  . 


:M '  ■£ 


122  A   DESPERATE  ERRAND. 

him  civilly  and  with  perfect  calmness,  put  her  horse  into  the  same  pace  with 
his,  and  rode  on  for  some  way  in  his  company. 

The  postman  was  a  burly,  thick-set  man,  with  a  good-humored  face.  You 
may  be  sure  that  Miss  Cochrane  inspected  it  anxiously  enough,  and  was  relieved 
to  find  that  it  did  not  contain  any  vast  amount  of  hardy  courage. 

The  man  was  well  enough  inclined  for  conversation,  too,  and  as  they  rode 
had  a  heap  of  chat,  which  it  seemed  a  pity  to  interrupt.  At  length,  however, 
when  they  were  about  half-way  between  Belford  and  Berwick,  Grizel  judged 
now  or  never  was  the  time.  Pulling  her  horse's  rein  gently  so  as  to  bring 
her  close  to  her  company,  she  said  in  a  low  but  perfectly  determined  voice  — 

"  Friend,  I  have  taken  a  fancy  for  those  mail-bags  of  yours,  and  I  must 
have  them  ;  therefore  take  my  advice,  and  deliver  them  up  quietly,  for  I  am 
provided  for  all  hazards.  I  am  mounted,  as  you  see,  on  a  fleet  horse  ;  I  carry 
fire-arms  ;  and,  moreover,  I  am  allied  with  those  who  are  stronger,  though  not 
bolder,  than  I.  You  see  that  wood,  yonder  .-'"  she  continued,  pointing  to  one 
about  a  mile  off,  with  an  accent  and  air  meant  to  corroborate  her  bold  words. 
"  Then  take  my  advice  :  give  me  up  your  bags,  and  speed  back  the  road  you 
came  for  the  present,  nor  dare  to  approach  that  wood  for  at  least  two  or  three 
hours  to  come." 

The  postman,  whose  eyes  had  been  growing  rounder  and  rounder  during 
this  speech  from  the  stripling  beside  him,  pulled  up  and  looked  at  her  in  dumb 
amazement  for  some  moments. 

"  If,"  said  he,  as  soon  as  he  found  his  tongue,  "you  mean,  young  master,  to 
make  yourself  merry  at  my  expense,  you  are  heartily  welcome.  I  can  see  a 
joke,  I  trust,  as  well  as  another  man  ;  so  have  your  laugh  out,  and  don't 
think  I'm  one  to  take  offence  at  the  words  of  a  foolish  boy.  But  if,"  and  here 
he  whipped  a  pistol  from  his  holster  and  turned  the  muzzle  on  her  face  — 
"ify'are  mad  enough  to  think  seriously  of  such  a  business,  then  I  am  ready 
for  you." 

They  had  come  to  a  stand  now,  in  the  middle  of  the  road  ;  and  Grizel  felt 
an  ugly  sinking  at  the  heart  as  she  looked  at  the  mouth  of  the  pistol,  now 
not  a  yard  from  her  cheek.  Nevertheless  she  answered,  very  quietly  and 
coolly — 

"  If  you  have  a  doubt,  dismiss  it  ;  I  am  quite  in  earnest." 

The  postman,  with  his  hand  on  the  trigger,  hesitated. 

"  Mcthinks,  my  lad,  you  seem  of  an  age  when  robbing  a  garden  or  an  old 
woman's  fruit-stall  would  befit  you  better,  if  so  be  you  nmst  turn  thief,  than 
taking  His  Majesty's  mails  upon  his  highway  from  a  stout  and  grown  man. 
So  be  thankful,  then,  you  have  met  with  one  who  will  not  shed  blood  if  he 
can  help  it,  and  go  your  way  before  I  am  provoked  to  fire." 

"Sir,"  said  Grizel,  "you  are  a  worthy  man  ;  nor  am  I  fonder  of  bloodshed 
than  you  ;  but  if  )-ou  will  not  be  persuaded,  what  shall  I  do  .''  For  I  have 
said — and   it  is   truth — that   mail  I  must   and  will   have.     Choose,  then  ; ''   and 


A   DESPERATE  ERRAND  123 

with  this  she  puiied  out  a  pistol  from  under  her  cloak,  and,  cocking  it,  presented 
it  in  his  face. 

"  Nay,  then,  your  blood  be  on  your  own  head,"  cried  the  postman,  and 
raising  his  pistol  again  he  pulled  the  trigger  ;  it  flashed  in  the  pan.  Dashing 
the  weapon  to  the .  ground,  he  pulled  out  the  other  in  a  moment,  and  aiming 
it  in  Grizel's  face,  fired — with  the  same  result.  In  a  furious  passion  he  flung 
down  this  pistol,  too,  sprang  from  his  horse,  and  dashed  forward  to  seize  her. 
She  dug  her  spurs  into  her  horse's  flank  and  just  eluded  his  grasp.  Meanwhile 
the  postman's  horse,  frightened  at  the  noise  and  the  struggle,  had  moved 
forward  a  pace  or  two.  The  girl  saw  her  opportunity,  and  seized  it  in  the  same 
instant  Another  dig  with  the  spurs,  and  her  own  horse  was  level  with  the 
other  ;  leaning  forward  she  caught  at  the  bridle,  and  calling  to  the  pair,  in 
an  instant  was  galloping  off  along  the  highway,  leaving  the  postman  helplessly 


itarmg. 


She  had  gone  about  a  hundred  yards  with  her  prize,  when  she  pulled  up 
to  look  back.  Her  discomfited  antagonist  was  still  standing  in  the  middle  of 
the  road,  apparently  stupefied  with  amazement  at  the  unlooked-for  turn  which 
affairs  had  taken.  Shouting  to  him  to  remember  her  advice  about  the  wood, 
she  put  both  the  horses  to  their  speed,  and  on  looking  back  once  more  was 
gratified  to  find  that  the  postman,  impressed  with  the  truth  of  her  mysterious 
threat,  had  turned  and  was  making  the  best  of  his  way  back  to  Belford. 

On  gaining  the  wood  to  which  she  had  pointed,  Grizel  tied  the  postman's 
horse  to  a  tree,  at  a  safe  distance  from  the  road,  and  set  about  unfastening  the 
straps  of  the  mail-bags.  With  a  sharp  penknife  she  ripped  them  open,  and 
searched  for  the  Government  despatches  among  their  contents.  To  find  these 
was  not  difficult,  owing  to  their  address  to  the  Council  in  Edinburgh,  and 
of  the  imposing  weight  of  their  seals.  Here  she  discovered,  not  only  the 
warrant  for  her  father's  death  but  also  many  other  sentences  inflicting  punish- 
ment in  varying  degrees  on  the  unhappy  men  who  had  been  taken  in  the 
late  rising.  Time  was  pressing  ;  she  could  not  stop  to  examine  the  warrants, 
but,  quickly  tearing  them  in  small  pieces,  placed  them  carefully  in   her  bosom. 

This  done,  and  having  arranged  all  the  private  papers  as  far  as  possible  as 
she  had  found  them,  Grizel  mounted  her  horse  again  and  rode  off.  The 
postman's  horse  and  the  mail-bags,  she  imagined,  would  soon  be  found,  from 
the  hints  which  she  had  given  to  the  man  about  the  wood — and  this  after- 
wards proved  to  be  the  case.  She  now  set  her  horse  at  a  gallop  again,  and 
did  not  spare  whip  or  spur  until  she  reached  the  cottage  of  her  nurse,  where 
her  first  care  was  to  burn,  not  only  the  warrant  for  her  father's  death,  but 
the  remainder  of  the  sentences  on  his  fellow-prisoners.  Having  satisfied  herself 
that  all  trace  of  the  obnoxious  papers  was  now  consumed,  she  put  on  again 
her  female  garments,  and  was  once  more  the  gentle  and  unassuming  Miss 
Grizel  Cochrane. 

It  w^as  high  time,  however,   to  be    making  her  way  northwards  again  ;   ac- 


124  A   DESPERATE   ERRAND 

cordingly  she  left  her  pistols  and  cloak  to  be  concealed  by  the  nurse,  and  again 
set  forward  on  her  journey.  By  avoiding  the  high-road,  resting  only  at  the 
most  sequestered  cottages — and  then  but  for  an  hour  or  so — and  riding  all 
the  while  as  hard  as  she  might,  she  reached  Edinburgh  in  safety  early  next 
morning. 

It  remains  only  to  say  that  the  time  thus  won  by  this  devoted  girl  was 
enough  to  gain  the  end  for  which  she  strove.  Instigated  by  a  bribe  of  ,£5,000 
from  Lord  Dundonald,  Father  Peters  plied  the  ear  of  King  James  so  importu- 
nately that  at  length  the  order  was  signed  for  Sir  John  Cochrane's  pardon. 

The  state  of  public  affairs  rendered  it  prudent  for  many  years  that  this 
action  of  Grizel  Cochrane's  should  be  kept  secret  ;  but  after  the  Revolution, 
when  men  could  speak  more  freely,  her  heroism  was  known  and  applauded. 
She  lived  to  marry  Mr.  Ker,  of  Morriston,  in  Berwickshire,  and  doubtless  w^as 
as  good  a  wife  as  she  had  proved  herself  a  daughter. 


\t 


135 


A  TIGER  HUNT  IN  INDIA 


4 

•V2S 


"GOOTUL,   April  ^ist. 
NOTORIOUS  old  man-eating  tigress,  with  four   cubs,  that  has  be( 


the  terror  of  the  neighbourhood  for  some  months  back,  was  mark( 
down  this  morning,  and  almost  the  whole  population  of  the  villaj 
turned  out  to  assist  in  her  destruction.  As  she  had  the  charact 
of  extreme  ferocity,  unusual  precautions  were  taken  in  beating  her  up,  ai 
volleys  of  blank  cartridge,  with  flights  of  rockets,  W'ere  thrown  into  every  thii 
place,  far  in  advance  of  the  beaters. 

"  The  tigress  was  soon  afoot,  and  our  assistant  mahout,  who  was  posted  ( 
a  tree  to  look  out,  held  up  five  fingers  to  telegraph,  while  he  shook  wi 
agitation  on  beholding  the  whole  family  passing  close  under  him.  ( 
reaching  the  edge  of  the  cover  where  we  were  posted,  the  tigress  left  her  cu 
behind,  walked  out  into  the  plain,  and  boldly  looked  the  elephant  in  the  fac 
laying  her  ears  back,  growling  savagely,  and  curling  up  her  whiskered  lips  wi 
a  look  of  indescribable  ferocity.  Every  hair  on  her  back  stood  erect,  her  loi 
tail  switched  from  side  to  side  like  that  of  an  enraged  cat,  and  her  glowii 
eyes  were  fixed  upon  us  with  a  look  of  fiendish  malignity.  I  never  saw  a  mo 
perfect  representation  of  an  incarnate  fiend  ;  and  I  remained  for  some  second 
with  my  rifle  poised,  studying  the  magnificent  picture  which  the  scene  presente 
and  feeling  a  sort  of  reluctance  to  put  an  end  to  it  by  firing  the  first  shot. 

"  Every  tree  and  rock  was  crowded  with  spectators,  watching  with  anxio 
looks  anil  beating  hearts  the  issue  of  our  contest  with  their  deadly  foe.  Tl 
wild  yells  of  the  beaters,  the  hissing  of  the  rockets,  and  the  rattle  of  fire-arir 
had  given  place  to  an  ominous  silence,  like  that  which  precedes  the  outbre; 
of  a  hurricane  ;  and  no  sound  was  heard  save  an  occasional  low,  deep  grov 
which  might  well  be  compared  to  distant  thunder  that  heralds  the  approachii 
tempest.  The  tigress,  in  the  attitude  I  have  described,  and  our  noble  elepha 
with  his  trunk  carefully  coiled  up  between  his  tusks,  stood  face  to  face,  like  tv 
combatants  who  have  just  entered  the  lists  and  scan  each  other  with  jealo 
looks  before  venturing  to  engage  in  mortal  combat. 

"The  elephant  took  one  step  forward,  and  the  tigress,  uttering  a  hoar: 
growl,  drew  herself  together  as  if  about  to  spring.  It  was  now  time  to  ac 
and  the  report  of  our  rifles  was  answered  by  an  e.xulting  shout  from  tl 
spectators,  as  the  tigress,  hit  in  the  point  of  the  shoulder,  rolled  over,  tearir 
up  the  earth  with  her  claws  in  many  a  fruitless  effort  to  regain  her  footin 
She  at  last  succeeded  in  doing  so,  and  slunk  back  into  cover.  This  sh 
decided  her    fate  ;   and  to  prevent   any  accident   occurring    to    mar   the   spo 


126  A  TIGER  HUNT  IN  INDIA. 

we  anticipated  when  she  was  brought  to  close  quarters,  we  ordered  the  spec- 
tators and  beaters  to  betake  themselves  to  trees,  where  they  would  be  fairly  out 
of  reach. 

"  '  Anak'  was  now  walked  into  the  thicket,  but  we  had  hardly  proceeded 
twenty  yards,  when  that  harsh  grating  roar  that  makes  the  blood  curdle, 
followed  by  a  despairing  shriek,  gave  us  dread  warning  that  some  unfortunate 
beater  had  disregarded  our  caution,  and  fallen  a  victim  to  his  temerity.  A  wild 
cry  of  rage  and  execration  arose  from  the  assembled  multitude,  many  of  whom, 
from  their  elevated  positions,  were  enabled  to  witness  the  tragedy.  But  so  far 
from  being  awed  by  the  fate  of  their  companion,  it  was  with  some  difficulty 
that  we  prevented  them  from  rushing  in,  sword  in  hand,  and  hewing  the 
tigress  in  pieces,  although  they  well  knew  in  so  doing  many  lives  must  have 
been  sacrificed. 

"  Every  exertion  was  now  made  to  hurry  the  elephant  to  the  spot.  The 
maho7it  plied  his  iron  goad,  and  the  sagacious  brute  crashed  his  way  through 
the  tangled  brushwood  to  the  scene  of  blood.  The  tigress,  enraged  by  the  pain 
of  her  wounds,  and  roused  to  madness  by  the  taste  of  blood,  rushed  out 
and  charged  the  elephant  with  determined  bravery.  Our  large  friend  \vith  the 
trunk  did  not  like  it,  and  wheeling  round  with  a  scream  of  alarm,  he  shuffled 
off  at  his  best  trot,  jolting  the  howdah  to  such  a  degree  that  we  found  it  im- 
possible to  fire,  although  the  tigress  was  giving  chase,  open-mouthed,  and  close 
at  his  haunches. 

''ThQ  mahoiit  at  last  succeeded  in  checking  his  pace  to  a  certain  degree, 
and  just  as  the  tigress  was  about  to  spring  on  his  croup,  I  took  a  snap  shot,  and 
hit  her.  This  made  the  savage  old  beast  rather  faint,  and  she  lay  down  to 
recover  her  breath.  After  some  trouble,  we  succeeded  in  stopping  the  elephant, 
and  coaxed  him  into  returning  to  stand  another  charge. 

"The  tigress  lay  perfectly  still  till  we  were  within  ten  yards,  when  she 
started  up  with  a  loud  roar  and  made  at  us  more  savagely  than  ever.  She 
had  hardly  got  upon  her  legs,  however,  when  she  was  knocked  over  by  a  volley 
from  four  barrels  and  completely  doubled  up. 

"  The  elephant,  whose  nerves  appeared  to  have  been  shaken  by  the  first 
charge,  again  turned  tail.  On  returning,  after  having  reloaded,  we  found  the 
tigress  lying  with  her  head  between  her  paws,  ready  to  receive  us.  We  fired 
at  her  as  she  was  in  the  act  of  springing  on  the  elephant's  trunk,  and  a 
lucky  shot  between  the  eyes  rolled  her  over,  dead. 

"  The  fall  of  this  noted  tigress  was  hailed  with  shouts  of  triumph  by  the 
amateurs  who  had  watched  the  whole  proceeding  from  their  perches  ;  and  a  poor 
little  herd-boy,  whose  brother  had  been  devoured  a  few  days  before  by  the  tigress 
and  her  cubs,  was  the  first  to  descend  and  exult  over  the  prostrate  man-eater. 

"As  the  cubs  were  described  as  not  being  larger  than  a  pointer  dog,  we 
commenced  a  hunt  for  them  on  foot,  armed  with  swords  ;  but  the  little  brutes 
had  concealed  themselves  so  effectually  that  we  could  not  find  them. 


A  TIGER  HUNT  IN  INDIA.  12? 

"  The  poor  little  herd-boy  whose  brother  had  been  killed  was  twice  before 
attacked  by  this  same  tigress  ;  but  a  herd  of  fine  large  buffaloes  which  he 
tended,  headed  by  a  sagacious  old  bull,  came  at  his  call  and  drove  her  off.  He 
was  close  to  his  brother  when  she  seized  him,  and  actually  saw  the  tigress  with 
her  four  cubs  feeding  off  the  body.  Unfortunately,  on  this  occasion,  the 
buffaloes  were  grazing  at  some  distance  ;  had  they  heard  the  boy's  cries,  or 
seen  the  tigress,  they  would  probably  have  charged,  and  beaten  her  back,  for 
they  had  been  seen  to  attack  her  in  a  body  several  times  when  she  ventured 
into  the  open  plain  ;  and  the  boy  said  he  never  feared  a  tiger  so  long  as  his 
cattle  were  near  him. 

"  The  natives  begged  to  be  allowed  to  carry  home  the  tigress  after  their 
own  fashion,  and  she  was  accordingly  handed  over  to  them  to  be  dealt  with  as 
they  saw  fit. 

"  Having  carefully  singed  off  the  whiskers,  with  various  superstitious  cere- 
monies, they  placed  the  body  of  the  tigress,  ornamented  with  garlands  of 
flowers,  upright  on  a  cart,  drawn  by  eight  bullocks,  and  in  this  state  dragged 
her  in  procession  through  the  village,  preceded  by  a  band  of  native  musicians 
and  followed  by  a  crowd  of  men,  women,  and  children,  exulting  over  the 
remains  of  a  deadly  foe,  and  invoking  blessings  on  our  heads  for  having  rid  them 
of  her  dreaded  presence. 

"  Killing  a  tiger  is  at  all  times  a  satisfactory  exploit.  But  the  death  of  a 
brute  like  this,  such  a  pest  while  living,  so  game  in  her  last  moments,  is 
indeed  a  glorious  victory.  Were  it  not  for  the  melancholy  fate  of  the  unfortunate 
beater,  I  should  say  this  is  the  most  satisfactory  day's  sport  I  have  yet  seen  in 
India.  An  acccident  of  this  sort  is  always  a  sad  damper  to  one's  feelings  of 
triumph  ;  but  we  have  at  least  the  satisfaction  of  thinking  that  it  was 
occasioned  entirely  by  the  poor  fellow's  own  imprudence  ;  and  that  by  ridding 
the  country  of  this  dreadful  scourge,  we  have  probably  been  the  means  of 
saving  many  human  lives  at  the  expense  of  one." 


♦<A  SPLENDID  BUT   AWFUL  SCENE   I'RESENIEU  ITSELF' 


SAVED    AT    SEA 


I  —  THE    TALE    OF    THE    "  GEORGIAN 


T  was  barely  a  fortnight  since  I   had  received  my  commission,  in   the 

year  1807,  as  junior  lieutenant  of  H.M.S.  D ,  then  on  the   India 

station    ( a    vacancy  having  occurred   in   her  under   some   puzzling 
circumstances,  unnecessary    to   describe  here,  which  the   Admiralty 
decided  on  as  bringing    the  appointment  within  their  jurisdiction  ),  and   along 


SAVED    AT    SEA.  129 

with  it  a  letter  from  Lord himself,  containing  a  civil  hint  that  if  I  intended 

remaining  in  the  service,  and  looked  for  future  promotion,  the  sooner  I  was  off 
the  better  ;  a  postscript  added  that  as  Ihe  Warren  Hastings  (Company's  ship) 
was  appointed  to  carry  out  stores  to  St.  Helena,  and  sailed  in  eight  days,  he 
had  kindly  engaged  a  passage  for  me,  thinking  I  should  be  "  rather  hurried  "  on 
having  such  short  notice  to  quit,  and  might  not  have  time  to  see  about  it  myself. 
So,  as  there  was  no  help  for  it,  I  sent  my  traps  down  to  the  ship,  and  joined 
her  myself  at  Northfleet  Hope  on  the  day  after.  We  thence  proceeded  to  the 
Downs,    and    anchored  in    company  with  a  fleet  of  about  forty  sail  of  West 

Indiamen  and  five  transports,  under  convoy  of  H.M.S.  A ,  waiting  for  more 

moderate  weather  and  a  favourable  shift  of  wind. 

Wishing  to  finish  some  letters,  I  left  the  cuddy  rather  early,  and  instead  of 
"  dowsing  my  glim  "  when  the  master-at-arms  came  round  at  four  bells,  I  sent 
him  up  with  a  message  to  the  officer  of  the  deck,  and  continued  writing  away 
in  my  cabin  long  after  every  one  else  had  turned  in,  with  the  exception  of  the 
anchor  watch,  whose  quick  heavy  tramp  on  deck  formed  a  sweet  accompaniment 
to  the  peppering  of  the  rain  against  the  sash,  until,  pen  in  hand,  I  fell  into  a 
sound  sleep,  whence  I  was  aroused  by  the  sudden  report  of  a  gun  upon  the 
larboard  quarter,  which  I  immediately  concluded  to  be  the  commodore  making 
daylight,  supposing  that  the  fleet  was  no  longer  wind-rode,  but  had  swung  to 

the  ebb  ;  for  when   I  came  below,  the  A was  lying  on  our  starboard  bow. 

I  was  mistaken,  however  ;  the  gale  was  harder  than  before,  and  it  wanted  at 
least  five  good  hours  of  the  time. 

"Ready  with  the  gun,  there,  for'ard  —  Fire!  —  Hand  up  the  engine  from 
below  !  —  Call  the  captain  !  —  Pipe  both  cutters  away  !  "  were  the  orders  I  heard 
loudly  issuing  on  board  of  us,  followed  by  a  rush  up  the  hatchway  ladders  and 
overhead,  as  if  a  man  had  fallen  overboard. 

"  Hook  the  yard  tackles  ! — Turn  the  hands  up  ! — Out  large  cutter  !  "  thundered 
forth  the  skipper,  who  was  coming  out  from  under  the  awning  just  as  I  reached 
the  top  of  the  companion  ;  and  in  a  very  short  time  the  boat  was  swinging  in 
mid-air,  much  to  the  discomfiture  of  the  various  live  stock  in  the  launch,  if 
one  might  judge  from  the  Dutch  concert  they  were  kicking  up  at  being  with 
so  little  ceremony  unroofed. 

I  sprang  into  the  hammock  nettings,  and  looked  around.  A  splendid  but 
an  awful  scene  presented  itself  Broad  on  our  larboard  quarter  lay  the  Georgian 
transport  ;  the  whole  of  one  side,  from  the  brake  of  the  forecastle  to  the  gang- 
way, enveloped  in  a  large  sheet  of  flame,  extending  as  high  as  her  maintop, 
and  casting  round  a  dazzling  glare  ;  while  the  blue  lights  that  were  continually 
burning  throughout  the  fleet  served  to  heighten  the  effect,  by  rendering  all 
our  countenances  as  ghastly  and  spectral  as  though  we  had  been  inhabitants 
of  another  world,  suffered  to  burst  the  confines  of  the  grave,  and  summoned, 
during  the  warring  of  the  elements,  to  gaze  on  the  misery  of  the  helpless 
wretches  whose    fearful    shrieks   sounded    appallingly,   as  they  reached   us  at 


SMBD  AT 

.  r  V  and  picrcii^l7<fistiBcd7,  and  tiien  again 

- — saotlKred  in  the  howlii^of  tbe  blast. 

:  -  i  :  r  r-boat5 ;  bat  as  soon  as 

_r  :  :    i  txxik  an  oar ;  for  on 

:.  :.-  ire  «^£r:e;  i::'-  Tiicc.''  On  reachmg 

; :    '  - :  : .  -     -  T    ;    Vemea-,  who 

-  "•    Tr::        ^r  r         -      lirr    ."    2    >  r  1 W  Sea 


-g  the 


vfao,    :t    1    z  r:  : ::    5:1:;    :f 


,  1  reaBarked.  vko 


wBaaiBj  «»  the  look-cot  far  accidents  amoi^st  the 

:  of  this  cesd^rtiaB,  vcre  all  av^v  asststing^  a  couple 

T>oa  the  Goodwias.  jTct  the  iristtr  ::"  the  tJ^vy^MX 

rr  xecermg'  ptoaspt  assist£r:t   .nrr    r.e  King's 

loBg-boat,  •  I:    -'  course 

asKiged  by  \^t  zst  ic  lz    :  f  any 

225  c!d  crazy  dii^ey,  which  v  .  _  _  not 

: '  r-s  I  Hnmng,  he  had  with  his  own 

. :'  fire,  befare  a  sii^;le  soul  bad 


^- 


had  been  sent  back  for  the 
faesfc  h-  -  --.:-:  z  in  getting  oat  anything  that  could 
mmd  Hz:  :  -  zen  of  the  tran^tort's  men  still 

^  E  -  -iless  <rf  dieir    danger,  and 

■-    '-r.  u  .    -     "z-^^ech  and  starboard 

T  -       r        _      r  '  ^Jar  appearance. 

-        --i-t-  ^__  oeen  driven   aft 

their  spreading  much  in 

2  T    . '  :  .  ringing  came  thundering 

:,    1  - '  "o  remain,  would  have 

I       -   't    \ .--     Jicy  were  irr  -  er  hove  overboard 

■w  i  by  file  bt .  :liat  were  inces- 

mszsf  -  -ectioc       /:  i      —  the  flames 

TL-.  -  '—      'r'      ii   risiag  — :    -  ;  i  1  -  ^   remained 

■»  ^  —  .  -    -  ;       '  t,  *  ccrUi;cil  erf"  war 

''  rrsoo,  the  master 

-  'ny^elfi  as  to  the 


PTrS.   IT    rOr 


Sin-  ET 


^■^"■1    «!'!!-    IE    T^C     Iff 


s°«=  jar  iarf  •i:^r. 


^arr.  ^arr  f-rt— 


:   ^nz. 


rr  2K>2St    IE  jr 


1SSE=~ 


tti  T 


^  IT 


^  XL   use  »nnii  Bar 


^^~-  32ir*QS:  Ji^ ^^ — - L  — 


uit?^  rrrr  ir    itr  r^   r 


gnr  Jtr  ^T'nrcrf: 


HIS.  v'jK.^ 


IE  anr^=T> 


-  ir 


_  "  ~    "  ^  7ZV2XK  XT  -^CTOS^ . 

nmrr^rs    ir   ::rt£    sirr 


Ar  ;25= 


rr  rre  r<£r? 


iai  "Jae  ■WXF5S  re  rie  sni^    "  ::its 


132  SAVED    AT    SEA. 

had  anything  happened  to  capsize  her  bottom  upwards,  and  cant  us  out,  it  would 
have  been  but  poor  fun  to  know  that  she  swam  while  we  ourselves  were  sinking. 

The  lower  rigging  of  the  Indiaman  was  crowded  as  high,  nearly,  as  the 
futtock-shrouds.  The  eyes  of  all  were  intently  fixed  upon  us  ;  and  above  two 
hundred  voices  shouted  in  a  breath,  "  Give  v(^ay,  my  fine  fellows!  Give  w-ay 
shipmates  — for  your  lives,  give  way  !  " 

But  there  was  one  on  board  that  ship  who,  regarding  our  progress,  shud- 
dered at  every  wave  that  reared  and  threatened  to  overwhelm  us  and  blast  her 
own  fond  hopes  We  saw  her  form  bending  over  the  hammock  nettings,  her 
hands  raised  to  heaven,  and  heard  her  voice  through  the  roaring  of  the  gale 
as  she  fervently  exclaimed,  in  a  tone  that  I  shall  never  forget  to  my  dying 
hour,  "  Bless  ye,  bless  ye  !  The  Father  o'  the  fatherless  preserve  ye  in  His 
mercy  !  Bless  ye,  bless  ye  !  "  And  had  not  another  and  a  mightier  Hand  been 
stretched  forth  upon  the  waters,  vain  w  ould  have  been  the  courage  or  seaman- 
ship of  the  best  among  us,  officer  or  man. 

There  being  six  hands  in  the  cutter  besides  Driver  and  O'Kasey,  I  let  the 
latter  take  the  bow-oar,  and,  coiling  up  my  legs,  stowed  myself  away  in  the  head- 
sheets  as  comfortably  as  circumstances  w'ould  allow.  When  within  a  couple  of 
ships'  lengths  of  the  transport,  we  saw  her  mainmast,  which  was  more  than  half 
burned  through,  and  entirely  unsupported  —  the  standing  rigging  being  already 
consumed  or  now  burning  —  went  with  a  tremendous  crash;  its  scathed  and 
scorched  topmast,  entirely  bare  of  rigging,  save  a  mass  of  burning  cordage  just 
below  the  cross-trees  ( the  flames  of  which  were  extinguished  in  their  passage 
through  the  air),  was  still  on-end  ;  as  the  spar  fell  with  its  head  aft,  bearing  a 
little  to  the  larboard  hand,  it  regularly  cut  under  the  mizzen-topsail-yard, 
shattering  the  top,  striking  the  crossjack-yard  with  such  violence  as  to  carry 
away  the  slings  and  bear  it  down  by  the  run  athwart  the  deck,  and, 
breaking  through  the  old  chafed  and  worn  mizzen-rigging,  like  so  much  pack- 
thread, it  lighted  on  the  taffrail  (  which  was  ground  and  crushed  in  an  instant 
level  with  the  deck),  and  there  rested  quietly,  with  its  head  projecting  some 
few  feet  over  the  stern.  Not  ten  seconds  after,  a  pale  blue  phosphoric  light, 
similar  to  that  which  sometimes  settles  on  the  flying-jibboom  end  or  mast- 
heads of  ships  within  the  tropics,  sailed  flickering  along  above  the  deck,  and, 
gradually  descending  as  it  travelled  aft,  finally  took  up  its  station  on  the  main- 
topmast-head,  and.  remaining  stationary  there,  shone  steadily  out,  as  if  to  direct 
us  where  to  pull. 

We  were  now  rapidly  ncaring  the  Georgian,  and  Driver,  who  was  steering, 
sang  out  to  me  to  stand  by  with  the  boat-hook,  and  stave  off  floating  pieces 
of  the  wreck,  lest  we  might  get  a  hole  knocked  in  the  cutter's  bows,  at  the 
same  time  remarking  she  was  pretty  full  of  water  as  she  was. 

"Sure,  thin,  sor,  hadn'  we  better  be  afther  takin' out  the  plug  and  Icttin 
it  all  rin.-*"  exclaimed  one  of  the  men,  a  countryman  of  O'Kasey's,  actually 
putting  his  hand  down  and  feeling  for  the  cork. 


SAVED    AT    SEA. 


iii 


"  Lave  that  plug  alone  ! "  hastily  roared  the  choleric  old  chap. 

It  required  a  quick  eye  and  steady  hand  on  the  part  of  our  coxswain 
to  avoid  a  bumping  match,  in  which  case  we  should  most  inevitably  have  come 
off  second-best ;  but  he  handled  the  cutter  beautifully,  although  more  than 
once  she  was  very  nearly  thrown  broadside-on  to  the  sea,  which  I  thoroughly 
expected  was  going  to  make  a  clear 
breach  over  all,  and  send  us  to  Davy 
Jones  at  once.  O'Kasey  volunteered 
to  board  the  transport,  if  the  boat's 
head  were  brought  right  underneath 
the  fallen  spar,  so  that  he  could 
scramble  up  by  the  tangled  maze  ot 
rigging  which  remained.  I  agreed 
to  follow  him.  He  kicked  off  his 
shoes  ;  I  tried  to  do  the  same  with 
mine  ;  but  they  were  originally  a 
tight  fit,  and  from  being  successively 
soaked,  scorched,  and  wetted  again, 
stuck  to  my  feet  as  though  they  had 
been  nailed  on,  and,  something  like 
the  negro's  pig,  the  more  I  pulled  the 
more  they  wouldn't  come.  "I'll  cut' 
em  for  you,"  said  O'Kasey,  and 
suiting  the  action  to  the  word  he 
succeeded  in  divesting  me  of  these 
dangerous  appendages,  at  the 
expense  of  having  the  point  of  the 
knife  run  about  half  an  inch  into  my 
great  toe.  It  was  no  time  to  stand 
upon  trifles,  however. 

"  There  you  are,  boys — ^jump  while 
you  may,  and  catch  like  cats,"  was  the  exhortation  we  received  from  Driver. 

O'Kasey  shut  his  eyes,  and,  stepping  to  the  gunwale,  bounded  lightly  off  like 
a  Dublin  harlequin  ;  but  I  kept  mine  wide  open,  and,  singling  out  a  rope,  made 
a  desperate  spring  upwards.  One  convulsive  clutch,  a  strenuous  exertion  of  my 
arms,  and  I  was  astride  the  spar  and  on  the  transport's  deck  in  the  course  of 
half  a  minute. 

A  great  oversight  had  been  undoubtedly  committed  by  us  all,  in  not 
ascertaining  as  to  where  there  existed  the  greatest  probability  of  finding  the 
child,  before  we  left  the  ship.  Luckily,  we  espied  it  under  the  lee  of  one  of 
the  carronades,  where  it  had  been  left  and  forgotten  in  the  hurry  of  the 
moment,  wrapped  in  a  blanket,  unhurt  by  the  fall  of  the  mast,  and  soundly 
sleeping  amid  the  roaring  of  a  gale  which  blew  loud  enough  to  wake  the  dead. 


"  'HOULD  THE  BABBY,   THIN  !  '  " 


134  SAVED    AT    SEA. 

"  Can  you  swim  ?"  said  O'Kasey  to  me. 

"Yes." 

"  Arrah,  hould  the  babby,  thin  ! " 

"  Can  you  ?  " 

"  Divvle  a  sthroke  !  "  replied  he,  and  running  out  to  the  mast-head  he  fear- 
lessly flung  himself  overboard,  trusting  to  the  men  in  the  cutter  to  pick  him  up- 

I  looked  round  for  a  grating  to  lash  the  child  to,  in  case  of  anything 
happening  to  myself,  but  none  was  to  be  found  ;  and  as  I  was  nearly  scorched 
to  death  with  the  flames,  and  suffocated  with  the  smoke,  I  lost  no  time  in 
following  the  young  Irishman's  example  ;  and,  providentially,  we  were  all  three 
hooked  out  and  hauled  into  the  cutter  without  any  material  damage. 

How  we  ever  got  near  the  Indiaman  again,  God  knows.  Even  as  it  was, 
we  fetched  a  good  half-cable's  length  astern  of  her.  The  other  ships  were  still 
farther  to  windward,  so  she  was  our  only  chance,  and  a  very  poor  one,  too — at 
least,  I  thought  so. 

The  men  were  terribly  winded  ;  the  boat  was  half-full  of  water,  which,  of 
course,  made  it  so  much  the  heavier  to  pull.  It  was  perfectly  impossible  to 
bale  any  of  it  out,  for  the  biggin  was  anywhere  but  where  it  ought  to  have 
been  ;  and  as  to  hats  —  it  was  a  matter  of  thankfulness  that  the  hair  itself  was 
not  blown  off  our  heads. 

In  this  dilemma  the  same  bright  idea  again  struck  the  acute  Irishman,  and 
laying  his  oar  across  for  a  moment  he  addressed  himself  to  Driver  with  "  The 
plug  y'r  honour!"  But  the  chief  mate  was  still  inexorable  ;  and,  instead  of 
making  any  headway,  we  could  now  barely  hold  our  own. 

Captain  S had,  however,  provided   against  such  an  emergency  on  board 

the  Indiaman.  Some  coir  rope  was  stopped  with  a  bit  of  spun-yarn  to  the  life- 
buoy, having  a  spare  end  of  from  ten  to  fifteen  fathoms  long,  the  rest  being 
coiled  clear  away  on  the  hen-coops  in  readiness  for  veering.  The  lanyard  of  the 
buoy  was  then  cut — sufficent  scope  of  stray  line  being  first  paid  out  to  allow 
it  to  reach  the  water  and  drift  away  without  checking — when  it  came  floating 
down  to  us  in  glorious  style.  The  end  of  the  coir,  which  was  floating  on  the 
surface,  and  waving  about  like  a  snake,  was  easily  caught  hold  of,  and  a  pretty 
severe  turn  taken  with  it  round  one  of  the  hawsers.  A  hawser,  which  was  then 
sent  down  to  us  by  means  of  a  snatch-block,  with  a  couple  of  double-headed 
shots  slung  to  the  hook  to  keep  it  steady  and  accelerate  its  progress  in  travel- 
ling, was  also  made  fast,  and  the  end  on  board  ( of  which  there  was  barely 
enough)  being  brought  to  the  capstan,  "  Heave  ho  !  "  was  the  word,  and  away 
went  the  cutter,  foaming  and  flashing  through  the  waves. 

Had  not  the  boat  been  well  and  strongly  built,  she  would  have  been  torn 
and  riven,  as  O'Kasey  expressed  it,  "into  smithereens  ;"  for  long  before  we 
were  under  ship's  stern,  the  water  was  up  to  the  rowlocks,  and  more  than 
once  we  were  literally  dragged  right  under  a  sea,  but  —  thanks  to  the  lockers — 
with  no  further  damage  than  a  few  good    salt-water  duckings  ;  and  at   last   we 


SAVED    AT    SEA.  135 

had  the  inexpressible  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  child  run  up  to  the  driver-boom 
end  in  a  basket,  and  restored  alive  to  the  arms  of  its  mother,  who  was  craning 
over  the  taffrails  in  almost  frantic  ecstasy. 

Thank    God  !     The    deck    of  the    Warren    Hastings    was   soon    once    more 
beneath  our  feet  ;  and   wet  and    exhausted  as  I    was,  I  neither  stayed  to  hear 

the    fine    speech    Captain  S had   prepared    for  us  on  the  occasion,  nor  the 

flattering  encomiums  of  the  lady  passengers  —  many  of  whom  were  up  in  the 
cuddy  at  the  time,  shedding  tears  enough  to  float  a  jolly-boat  ;  but  staggering 
down  to  my  cabin,  after  fortifying  the  inward  man,  I  rubbed  the  outward  dry, 
and,  stripping  the    sheets  off  my  cot,  turned   in  between  the  blankets   and   fell 

fast    asleep,  just  as   the    morning-gun  of  the  A boomed    over    the    water, 

announcing  to  the  fleet  that  daylight  had  already  broke. 


II. AN    ADVENTURE    IN    THE    "  ENDYMION. 

On  the  13th  of  October,  181 1,  we  were  cruising  in  the  Endymion,  off  the  north 
of  Ireland,  in  a  fine  clear  day  succeeding  one  in  which  it  had  almost  blown  a 
hurricane.  The  master  had  just  taken  his  meridian  observation,  the  officer  of 
the  watch  had  reported  the  latitude,  the  captain  had  ordered  it  to  be  made 
twelve  o'clock,  and  the  boatswain,  catching  a  word  from  the  lieutenant,  was  in 
the  full  swing  of  his  "  Pipe  to  dinner  !  "  when  the  captain  called  out  — 

"Stop  !  stop  !  1  meant  to  go  about  first." 

"  Pipe  belay  !  Mr.  King,"  smartly  ejaculated  the  officer  of  the  watch,  addressing 
the  boatswain  ;  which  words,  being  heard  over  the  decks,  caused  a  sudden 
cessation  of  the  sounds  peculiar  to  that  hungry  season  The  cook  stood  with 
a  huge  six-pound  piece  of  pork  uplifted  on  his  tormentors,  his  mate  ceased  to 
bale  out  the  pea-soup,  and  the  whole  ship  seemed  paralysed.  The  boatswain, 
having  checked  himself  in  the  middle  of  his  long-winded  dinner-tune,  drew  a 
fresh  inspiration,  and  dashed  off  into  the  opposite  sharp,  abrupt,  cutting  sound 
of  the  "  Pipe  belay  !  "  the  essence  of  which  peculiar  note  is  that  its  sounds 
should  be  understood  and  acted  on  with  the  utmost  degree  of  promptitude. 

There  was  now  a  dead  pause  of  perfect  silence  all  over  the  ship,  in  ex- 
pectation of  what  was  to  come  next.      All  eyes  were  turned  to  the  chief. 

"No  ;  never  mind,  we'll  wait,"  cried  the  good-natured  captain,  unwilling  to 
interfere  with  the  comforts  of  the  men  ;  "  let  them  go  to  dinner  ;  we  shall  tack 
at  one  o'clock,  it  will  do  just  as  well." 

The  boatswain,  at  a  nod  from  the  lieutenant  of  the  watch,  at  once  re-com- 
menced his  merry  "  Pipe  to  dinner"  notes;  upon  which  a  loud,  joyous  laugh 
rang  from  one  end  of  the  ship  to  the  other.  This  hearty  burst  was  not  in  the 
slightest  degree  disrespectful  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  sounded  like  a  grateful 
expression  of  glee  at  the  prospect  of  the  appoaching  good  things  which,  by  this 
time,  were  finding  their  speedy  course  down  the  hatchways. 


136  SAVED    AT    SEA. 

Nothing  was  now  heard  but  the  cheerful  chuckle  of  a  well-fed  company, 
the  clatter  of  plates  and  knives,  and  the  chit-chat  of  light  hearts  under  the 
influence  of  temperate  excitement. 

When  one  o'clock  came,  the  hands  were  called  "About  ship  !  "  But  as  the 
helm  was  in  the  very  act  of  going  down,  the  look-out-man  at  the  fore-topmast 
head  called  out — 

"  I  see  something  a  little  on  the  lee-bow,  sir  !  " 

**  Something  !  What  do  you  mean  by  '  something '  ?  "  cried  the  first  lieutenant, 
making  a  motion  to  the  quarter-master  at  the  con  to  right  the  helm  again. 

"  I  don't  know  what  it  is,  sir,"   cried  the   man  ;    "it  is  black,  however." 

"  Black  !    Is  it  like  a  whale  ? "  asked  the  officer,  playing  a  little  with  his  duty_ 

"  Yes,  sir,''  cried  the  the  look-out-man,  unconscious  that  Shakespeare  had  been 
before  him,  "  very  like  a  whale  !  " 

The  captain  and  the  officer  exchanged  glances  at  the  poor  fellow  aloft  having 
fallen  into  the  trap  laid  for  him,  and  the  temptation  must  have  been  great  to 
have  inquired  whether  it  were  not  "  like  a  weasel  ;  "  but  this  might  have  been 
stretching  the  jest  too  far  ;  so  the  lieutenant  merely  called  to  the  signal  mid- 
shipman, and  desired  him  to  skull  up  to  the  mast-head  with  his  glass,  to  see 
what  he  made  of  the  look-out-man's  whale. 

"It  looks  like  a  small  rock,"  cried  young  "  Skylark"  as  soon  as  he  reached 
the  top-gallant-yard  and  had  taken  the  glass  from  his  shoulders,  across  which 
he  had  slung  it  with  a  three-yarn  fox. 

"Stuff and  nonsense  !"  replied  the  officers,  "there  are  no  rocks  hereabouts  ; 
we  can  but  just  see  the  top  of  Muckish,  behind  Tory  Island.  Take  another 
spy  at  your  object,  youngster  ;  the  mast-head-man  and  you  will  make  it  out 
to  be  something  by-and-by,  between  you,  I  dare  say." 

"  It's  a  boat,  sir  !  "  roared  out  the  boy.  "  It's  a  boat  adrift,  two  or  three 
points  on  the  lee-bow." 

"  Oh-ho  !  "  said  the  officer,  "that  may  be,  sir,"  turning  with  an  interrogative 
air  to  the  captain,  who  gave  orders  to  keep  the  frigate  away  a  little  that  this 
strange-looking  affair  might  be  investigated.  Meanwhile,  as  the  ship  was  not 
to  be  tacked,  the  watch  was  called,  and  one  half  only  of  the  people  remained 
on  deck.  The  rest  strolled,  sleepy,  below  ;  or  disposed  themselves  in  the  sun 
on  the  lee  gangway,   mending  their  clothes,  or  telling  long  yarns. 

A  couple  of  fathoms  of  the  fore  and  main  sheets,  and  a  slight  touch  of  the 
weather  topsail  and  topgallant  braces,  with  a  check  on  the  bow-lines,  made  the 
swift-footed  Endymion  spring  forward,  like  a  greyhound  slipped  from  the 
leash.  In  a  short  time  we  made  out  that  the  object  we  were  in  chase  of  was, 
in  fact,  a  boat.  On  approaching  a  little  nearer,  some  heads  of  people  became 
visible,  and  then  several  figures  stood  up,  waving  their  hats  to  us.  We  brought 
to,  just  to  windward  of  them,  and  sent  a  boat  to  see  what  was  the  matter. 

It  turned  out  as  we  supposed  ;  they  had  belonged  to  a  ship  which  had 
foundered  in  the  recent  gale.     Although  their  vessel  had  become  water-logged, 


'SEVERAI,    FIGURES    STOOP    U^"    (p.  136.) 


IjS  SAVED    AT    SEA. 

they  had  contrived  to  hoist  their  long-boat  out,  and  to  stow  in  her  twenty- 
one  persons,  some  of  them  seamen  and  some  passengers  ;  of  these,  two  were 
women,  and  three  children.  Their  vessel,  it  appeared,  had  sprung  a  leak  in 
middle  of  the  gale,  and,  in  spite  of  all  their  pumping,  the  water  gained  so  fast 
upon  them  that  they  took  to  baling  as  a  more  effectual  method  After  a  time, 
when  this  resource  failed,  the  men,  totally  worn  out  and  quite  dispirited,  gave 
it  up  as  a  bad  job,  abandoned  their  pumps,  and  actually  lay  down  to  sleep.  In 
the  morning  the  gale  broke  ;  but  the  ship  had  filled  in  the  meantime,  and  was 
falling  fast  over  her  broadside.  With  some  some  difficulty  they  disentangled  the 
long-boat  from  the  wreck,  and  thought  themselves  fortunate  in  being  able  to 
catch  hold  of  a  couple  of  small  oars,  with  a  studding-sail-boom  for  a  mast,  on 
which  they  hoisted  a  fragment  of  their  main-hatchway  tarpaulin  for  a  sail. 
One  ham  and  three  gallons  of  water  were  all  the  provisions  they  were  able  to 
secure  ;  and  in  this  fashion  they  were  set  adrift  on  the  wide  sea  The  master 
of  the  ship,  with  two  gentlemen  who  were  passengers,  preferred  to  stick  by  the 
vessel  while  there  was  any  part  of  her  above  water.  This,  at  least,  was  the 
story  told  us  by  the  people  we  picked  up 

The  wind  had  been  fair  for  the  shore  when  the  long-boat  left  the  wreck, 
and  though  their  ragged  sail  scarcely  drove  them  along,  their  oars  were  only 
just  sufficient  to  keep  the  boat's  head  the  right  way  Of  course  they  made 
but  slow  progress  ;  so  that  when  they  rose  on  the  top  of  a  swell,  which  was 
still  very  long  and  high  in  consequence  of  the  gale,  they  could  only  just  discover 
the  distant  land,  Muckish,  a  remarkable  flat-topped  mountain  on  the  north- 
west coast  of  Ireland,  not  very  far  from  the  promontory  called  the  Bloody 
Foreland. 

There  appeared  to  have  been  little  discipline  among  this  forlorn  crew,  even 
when  the  breeze  was  in  their  favour  ;  but  when  the  wind  chopped  round,  and 
blew  off  shore,  they  gave  themselves  up  to  despair,  laid  in  their  oars,  let  the  sail 
flap  to  pieces,  gobbled  up  all  their  provisions,  and  drank  out  their  whole  stock  of 
water.  Meanwhile  the  boat,  which  had  been  partially  stove,  in  the  confusion  of 
clearing  the  ship,  began  to  fill  with  water  ;  and,  as  they  all  admitted  afterwards, 
if  it  had  not  been  for  the  courage  and  patience  of  the  women  under  this  sharp 
trial,  they  must  have  gone  to  the  bottom. 

As  it  was  both  cold  and  rainy,  the  poor  children,  who  were  too  young  to 
understand  the  nature  of  their  situation,  or  the  inutility  of  complaining,  in- 
cessantly cried  out  for  water,  and  begged  that  more  clothes  might  be  wrapped 
round  them.  Even  after  they  came  to  us  the  little  things  were  still  crying, 
"  Oh  !  do  give  us  some  water" — words  which  long  sounded  in  our  ears.  None 
of  these  women  were  by  any  means  strong  —  on  the  contrary,  one  of  them 
seemed  to  be  very  delicate  ;  yet  they  managed  to  rouse  the  men  to  a  sense  of 
their  duty  by  a  mixture  o<"  reproaches  and  entreaties,  combined  with  the 
example  of  that  singular  fortitude  which  often  gives  more  than  masculine 
vigour  to   female  minds  in  seasons  of  danger.     How  long  this  might  have  lasted 


SAVED    AT    SEA.  139 

I  cannot  say  ;  but  probably  the  strength  of  the  men,  however  stimulated, 
must  have  given  way  before  night,  especially  as  the  wind  freshened,  and  the 
boat  was  driving  further  to  sea.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  accident  of  the  officer 
of  the  forenoon  watch  on  board  the  Endymion  being  unaware  of  the  captain's 
intention  to  tack  before  dinner,  these  poor  people,  most  probably,  would  all 
have  perished. 

The  women,  dripping  wet,  and  scarcely  capable  of  moving  hand  or  foot, 
were  lifted  up  the  side,  in  a  state  almost  of  stupor  ;  for  they  were  confused 
by  the  hurry  of  the  scene,  and  their  fortitude  had  given  way  the  moment  all 
high  motive  to  exertion  was  over.  One  of  them,  on  reaching  the  quarter-deck, 
slipped  through  our  hands,  and  falling  on  her  knees,  wept  violently  as  she 
returned  thanks  for  such  a  wonderful  deliverance  ;  but  her  thoughts  were 
bewildered,  and,  fancying  that  her  child  was  lost,  she  struck  her  hands 
together,  and  leaping  again  on  her  feet,  screamed  out,  "  Oh  !  where's  my  bairn 
— my  wee  bairn  .-' " 

At  this  instant  a  hugh  quarter-master,  whose  real  name  or  nickname  ( I 
forget  which)  was  Billy  Magnus,  and  who  was  reported  to  have  no  fewer  tlian 
five  wives,  and  goodness  knows  how  many  children,  appeared  over  the  gangway 
hammocks,  holding  the  missing  urchin  in  his  immense  paw,  where  it  squealed 
and  twisted  itself  about,  like  Gulliver  between  the  finger  and  thumb  of  the 
Brobdignag  farmer.  The  mother  had  just  strength  enough  left  to  snatch 
her  offspring  from  Billy,  when  she  sank  down  flat  on  the  deck,  completely 
exhausted. 

By  means  of  a  fine  blazing  fire,  and  plenty  of  hot  tea,  toast,  and  eggs,  it 
was  easy  to  remedy  one  class  of  these  poor  people's  wants  ;  but  how  to  rig 
them  out  in  dry  clothes  was  a  puzzle,  till  the  captain  bethought  him  of  a 
resource  which  answered  very  well.  He  sent  to  several  of  the  officers  for  their 
dressing-gowns  ;  and  these,  together  with  supplies  from  his  own  wardrobe,  made 
capital  gowns  and  petticoats — at  least,  till  the  more  fitting  drapery  of  the  ladies 
was  dried.  The  children  were  tumbled  into  bed  in  the  same  compartment,  close 
to  the  fire  ;  and  it  would  have  done  any  one's  heart  good  to  have  witnessed 
the  style  in  which  the  provisions  vanished  from  the  board,  while  the  women 
wept,  prayed,  and  laughed,  by  turns. 

The  rugged  seamen,  when  taken  out  of  the  boat,  showed  none  of  these 
symptoms  of  emotion,  but  running  instinctively  to  the  scuttle-butt,  asked 
eagerly  for  a  drop  of  water.  As  the  most  expeditious  method  of  feeding  and 
dressing  them,  they  were  distributed  among  the  different  messes,  one  to  each, 
as  far  as  they  went.  Thus  they  were  all  soon  provided  with  dry  clothing,  and 
with  as  much  to  eat  as  they  could  stow  away  ;  for  the  doctor,  when  consulted, 
said  they  had  not  fasted  so  long  as  to  make  it  dangerous  to  give  them  as  much 
food  as  they  were  disposed  to  swallow.  With  the  exception  of  the  ham  devoured 
in  the  boat,  and  which,  after  all,  was  but  a  mouthful  apiece,  they  had  tasted 
nothing  for  more  than  thirty  hours  ;  so  that,  I  suppose,  better  justice  was  never 


X40 


SAVED    AT    SEA. 


done  to  His  Majesty's  beef,  pork,  bread,  and  other  good  things,  with  which  our 
follows  insisted  on  stuffing  the  new-comers,  till  they  fairly  cried  out  for  mercy 
and  begged  to  be  allowed  a  little  sleep. 

Possibly  some  of  as  were  more  disposed  to  sympathise  with  the  distress  of 
these  people  when  adrift  in  their  open  boat  on  the  wide  sea,  from  having 
ourselves,  about  a  month  before,  been  pretty  much  in  the  same  predicament. 
It  always  adds,  as  any  one  knows,  greatly  to  our  consideration  for  the  difficulties 
and  dangers  of  others,  to  have  recently  felt  some  touch  of  similar  distress  in 
our  own  persons.  This  maxim,  though  it  is  familiar  enough,  makes  so  little 
impression  on  our  ordinary  thoughts,  that  when  circumstances  occur  to  fix  our 
attention  closely  upon  it  we  are  apt  to  arrive  as  suddenly  at  the  perception  of 
its  truth  as  if  it  were  a  new  discovery. 


"'ARE  ANY  OF  YOU  MARRIED  MEN?'  " 


THE    PIRATE'S    APPRENTICE. 

The  Narrative  of  Philip  Ashton. 

M  Friday,  the  15th  of  June,  1722,  after  being  out  some  time  in  a 
schooner  with  four  men  and  a  boy,  off  Cape  Sable,  I  stood  in  for  Port 
Rosa,  designing  to  lie  there  all  Sunday.  Having  arrived  about  four 
in  the  afternoon,  we  saw,  among  other  vessels  which  had  reached 
the  port  before  us,  a  brigantine,  supposed  to  be  inward  bound  from  the  West 
Indies.  We  had  not  remained  more  than  three  or  (our  hours  at  anchor  when  a 
boat  from  the  brigantine  came  alongside,  with  four  hands,  who  leaped  on  deck, 
and  suddenly  drawing  out  pistols  and  brandishing  cutlasses,  demanded  the 
surrender  both  of  ourselves  and  our  vessel.  All  remonstrance  was  vain;  nor, 
indeed,  had  we  known  who  they  were  before  boarding  us,  could  we  have  made 
any  effectual  resistance,  being  only  five  men  and  a  boy,  and  were  thus  under  the 
necessity  of  submitting  at  discretion.  We  were  not  single  in  misfortune,  as 
thirteen  or  fourteen  fishing  vessels  were  in  like  manner  surprised  the  same 
evening. 

When  carried  on  board  the  brigantine,  I  found  myself  in  the  hands  of  Nee 
Low,  an  infamous  pirate,  whose  vessel  had  two  great  guns,  four  swivels,  and 
about  forty-two  men.  I  was  strongly  urged  to  sign  the  articles  of  agreement 
among  the  pirates,   and    to  join   their  number,  which  I  steadily  refused,   and 


142  THE  PIRATE'S  APPRENTICE. 

suffered  much  bad  usage  in  consequence.  At  length  we  were  conducted  along 
with  five  of  the  prisoners  to  the  quarter-deck  ;  and  Low,  coming  up  to  us 
with  pistol  in  his  hands,  louldly  demanded,  "Are  any  of  you  married  men?" 
This  unexpected  question,  added  to  the  sight  of  the  pistols,  struck  us  all 
speechless.  We  were  alarmed  least  there  was  some  secret  meaning  in  his  words, 
and  that  he  would  proceed  to  extremities  ;  therefore  none  could  reply. 

In  a  violent  passion  he  cocked  a  pistol,  and  clapping  it  to  my  head,  cried 
out,  "  You  dog  !  why  don't  you  answer  ?  "  swearing  vehemently  at  the  same  time 
that  he  would  shoot  me  through  the  head.  I  was  sufficiently  terrified  by  his 
threats  and  fierceness  ;  but  rather  than  lose  my  life  in  so  trifling  a  matter  I 
ventured  to  pronounce,  as  loud  as  I  durst  speak,  that  I  was  not  married. 
Hereupon  he  seemed  to  be  somewhat  pacified,  and  turned  away.  It  appeared 
that  Low  was  resolved  to  take  no  married  men  whatever,  which  often  seemed 
surprising  to  me,  until  I  had  been  a  considerable  time  with  him.  But  his  own 
wife  had  died  lately,  before  he  became  a  pirate,  and  he  had  a  young  child  at 
Boston,  for  whom  he  entertained  such  tenderness  that  at  every  lucid  interval 
from  drinking  and  revelling,  on  mentioning  it  I  have  seen  him  sit  down  and 
weep  plentifully.  Thus  I  concluded  that  his  reason  for  taking  only  single  men 
was  probably  that  they  might  have  no  ties  such  as  wives  and  children  to  divert 
them  from  his  service  and  render  them  desirous  of  returning  home. 

The  pirates,  finding  force  of  no  avail  in  compelling  us  to  join  them,  began  to 
use  persuasion  instead.  They  tried  to  flatter  me  into  compliance  by  setting  before 
me  the  share  I  should  have  in  their  spoils,  and  the  riches  which  I  should  become 
master  of;  and  all  the  time  eagerly  importuned  me  to  drink  along  with  them. 
But  I  still  continued  to  resist  their  proposals  ;  whereupon  Low,  with  equal  fury 
as  before,  threatened  to  shoot  me  through  the  head  ;  and  though  I  earnestly 
entreated  my  release,  he  and  his  people  wrote  my  name  and  those  of  my 
companions  in  their  books. 

On  the  19th  of  June  the  pirates  changed  the  Privateer,  as  they  called  their 
vessel,  and  went  into  a  new  schooner  belonging  to  Marblehead,  which  they  had 
captured.  They  then  put  all  the  prisoners  whom  they  designed  sending  home 
on  board  of  the  brigantine,  and  sent  her  to  Boston.  This  induced  me  to  make 
another  unsuccessful  attempt  for  liberty  ;  but  though  I  fell  on  my  knees  before 
Low  he  refused  to  let  me  go. 

Thus  I  saw  the  brigantine  depart  with  all  the  captives,  excepting  myself  and 
seven  more.  A  short  time  before  she  departed  I  had  nearly  effected  my  escape  ; 
for  a  dog  belonging  to  Low  being  accidentally  left  on  shore,  he  ordered  some 
hands  in  a  boat  to  bring  it  off.  Thereupon  two  young  men,  captives,  both 
belonging  to  Marblehead,  readily  leaped  into  the  boat  ;  and  I,  considering  that 
if  once  I  could  get  on  shore,  means  might  be  found  of  effecting  my  escape, 
endeavored  to  go  along  with  them.  But  the  quarter-master,  called  Russel, 
catching  hold  of  my  shoulder,  drew  me  back. 

As  the  young  men  did   not  return,  he    thought  I  was  privy  to  the  plot  ;    and 


THE  PIRATE'S  APPRENTICE.  143 

with  the  most  outrageous  oaths  snapped  his  pistol  at  me  on  my  denying  all 
knowledge  of  it.  The  pistol  missing  fire,  however,  only  served  to  enrage  him 
the  more.  He  snapped  it  three  times  again  and  as  often  it  missed  fire  ;  on 
which  he  held  it  overboard,  and  then  it  went  off.  Russel  on  this  .drew  his 
cutlass,  and  was  about  to  attack  me  with  the  utmost  fury,  when  I  leaped  down 
into  the  hold  and  saved  myself. 

Off  St.  Michel's  the  pirates  took  a  large  Portuguese  pink,  laden  with  wheat, 
coming  out  of  the  road  ;  and  finding  her  a  good  sailer,  and  that  she  carried 
fourteen  guns,  transferred  their  company  into  her.  It  afterwards  became 
necessary  to  carreen  her,  whence  they  made  three  islands,  called  the  Triangles, 
lying  about  forty  leagues  to  the  eastward  of  Surinam.  In  heaving  down  the 
pink,  Low  had  ordered  so  many  men  to  the  shrouds  and  yards  that  the 
ports,  by  her  heeling,  got  under  water,  and,  the  sea  rushing  in,  she  over-set. 

Low,  with  the  doctor,  was  in  the  cabin  at  the  time,  and  as  soon  as  he 
observed  the  water  gushing  in,  he  leaped  out  of  one  of  the  stern  ports,  while 
the  doctor  attempted  to  follow  him  ;  but  the  violence  of  the  sea  repulsed  the 
latter,  and  he  was  forced  back  into  the  cabin.  Low,  however,  contrived  to 
thrust  his  arm  into  the  port,  and,  dragging  him  out,  saved  his  life.  Meanwhile 
the  vessel  completely  over-set  ;  her  keel  turned  out  of  the  water,  and  as  the 
hull  filled,  she  sank  in  the  depth  of  about  six  fathoms.  The  yard-arms 
striking  the  ground,  forced  the  masts  somewhat  above  the  water. 

As  the  ship  over-set,  the  people  got  from  the  shrouds  and  yards  upon  the 
hull  ;  and  as  the  hull  went  down,  they  again  resorted  to  the  rigging,  rising  a 
little  out  of  the  sea.  Being  an  indifferent  swimmer,  I  was  reduced  to  great 
extremity,  for  along  with  other  light  lads  I  had  been  sent  up  to  the  maintop- 
gallant  yard  ;  and  the  people  of  a  boat  who  were  now  occupied  in  preserving 
the  men,  refusing  to  take  me  in,  I  was  compelled  to  attempt  reaching  the 
buoy.  This  I  luckily  accomplished,  and,  as  it  was  large,  secured  myself  there 
until  the  boat  aproached. 

I  once  more  requested  the  people  to  take  me  in,  but  they  still  refused,  as 
the  boat  was  full.  I  was  uncertain  whether  they  designed  leaving  me  to  perish 
in  this  situation  ;  however,  the  boat,  being  deeply  laden,  made  way  very  slowly, 
and  one  of  my  own  comrades,  captured  at  the  same  time  with  myself,  calling 
to  me  to  forsake  the  buoy  and  swim  towards  her,  I  assented,  and  reaching 
the  boat,  was  drawn  on  board  by  him.  Two  men,  John  Bell  and  Zana  Gourdon, 
were  lost  in  the  pink.  Though  the  schooner  in  company  was  very  near  at 
hand,  her  people  were  employed  mending  their  sails  under  an  awning,  and 
knew  nothing  of  the  accident  until  the  boat  full  of  men  got  alongside. 

The  pirates  having  thus  lost  their  principal  vessel,  and  the  greatest  part  of 
their  provisions  and  water,  were  reduced  to  great  extremities  for  want  of  the 
latter.  They  were  unable  to  get  a  supply  at  the  Triangles  ;  nor,  on  account  of 
calms  and  currents,  could  they  make  the  Island  of  Tobago.  Thus  they  were 
forced  to  stand  for  Grenada,  which  they  reached  after  being  on  short  allowance 


144  THE  PIRATE'S  APPRENTICE. 

for  sixteen  days  together.  Grenada  was  a  French  settlement  ;  and  Low  on 
arriving,  after  having  sent  all  his  men  below,  except  a  sufficient  number  to 
manoeuvre  the  vessel,  said  he  was  from  Barbadoes,  that  he  had  lost  the  water 
on  board,  and  was  obliged  to  put  in  there  for  a  supply. 

The  people  entertained  no  suspicion  of  his  being  a  pirate  ;  but  afterwards 
supposing  him  a  smuggler,  thought  it  a  good  opportunity  to  make  a  prize  of 
his  vessel.  Next  day,  therefore,  they  equipped  a  large  sloop  of  seventy  tons 
and  four  guns,  with  about  thirty  hands,  as  sufficient  for  the  capture,  and  came 
alongside,  while  Low  was  quite  unsuspicious  of  their  design.  But  this  being 
evidently  betrayed  by  their  number  and  actions,  he  quickly  called  ninety  men  on 
deck,  and,  having  eight  guns  mounted,  made  an  easy  prey  of  the  French  sloop. 

Provided  with  these  two  vessels,  the  pirates  cruised  about  in  the  West  Indies, 
taking  seven  or  eight  prizes,  and  at  length  arrived  at  the  island  of  Santa  Cruz^ 
where  they  captured  two  more.  After  lying  there  for  some  days  we  sailed  for 
the  Spanish  American  settlements.  The  pirates  descried  two  large  ships  about 
half-way  between  Carthagena  and  Portobello,  which  proved  to  be  the  Mermaid, 
an  English  man-of-war,  and  a  Guineaman.  We  approached  in  chase,  but,  dis- 
covering the  man-of-war's  great  range  of  teeth,  immediately  put  about,  and  made 
the  best  of  our  way  off. 

The  man-of-war  then  began  the  pursuit ;  and  I  confess  that  my  terrors  were 
now  equal  to  any  that  I  had  previously  suffered  ;  for  I  concluded  that  we  should 
certainly  be  taken  and  that  I  should  no  less  certainly  be  hanged  for  company's 
sake  —  so  true  are  the  words  of  Solomon,  "a  companion  of  fools  shall  be 
destroyed."  But  the  two  pirate  vessels,  finding  themselves  outsailed,  separated  ; 
and  Farrington  Spriggs,  who  commanded  the  schooner  in  which  I  was,  stood  in 
for  the  shore.  The  Mermaid,  observing  Low's  sloop  to  be  the  larger  of  the 
two  crowded  all  sail,  and  continued  gaining  still  more  —  indeed,  until  her  shot 
flew  over  the  vessel  ;  but  one  of  the  sloop's  crew  showed  Low  a  shoal  which  he 
could  pass,  and  in  the  pursuit  the  man-of-war  grounded.  Thus  the  pirates  escaped 
hanging  on  this  occasion.  Spriggs  and  one  of  his  chosen  companions,  dreading 
the  consequences  of  being  captured  and  brought  to  justice,  laid  their  pistols 
beside  them  in  the  interval,  and  pledging  a  mutual  oath  in  a  bumper  of  liquor, 
swore,  if  they  saw  no  possibility  of  escape,  to  set  foot  to  foot  and  blow  out 
each  other's  brains.  But  standing  towards  the  shore  they  made  Pickeroon  Bay 
and  escaped  the  danger. 

Next  we  repaired  to  a  small  island  called  Utilla,  about  seven  or  eight  leagues 
to  leeward  of  the  island  of  Roatan,  in  the  Bay  of  Honduras,  where  the  bottom 
of  the  schooner  was  cleaned.  There  were  now  twenty-two  persons  on  board,  and 
eight  of  us  engaged  in  a  plot  to  overpower  our  masters  and  make  our  escape. 
Spriggs  proposed  sailing  for  New  England  in  quest  of  provisions,  and  to  increase 
his  company  ;  and  we  intended,  on  approaching  the  coast,  when  the  rest  had 
indulged  freely  in  liquor  and  fallen  sound  asleep,  to  secure  them  under  the 
hatches  and  then  deliver  ourselves  up  to  Government. 


THE  PIRATE'S  APPRENTICE.  145 

Although  our  plot  was  carried  on  with  all  possible  privacy,  Spriggs  had 
somehow  or  other  got  intelligence  of  it,  and  having  fallen  in  with  Low  on  the 
voyage,  went  on  board  his  ship  to  make  a  furious  declaration  agaiust  us.  But 
Low  made  little  account  of  his  information,  otherwise  it  might  have  been  fatal 
to  most  of  our  number.  Spriggs,  however,  returned  raging  to  the  schooner,  ex- 
claiming that  four  of  us  should  go  forward  to  be  shot ;  and  to  me  in  particular 
he  said,  "You  dog,  Ashton,  you  deserve  to  be  hanged  up  to  the  yard-arm  for 
designing  to  cut  us  off."  I  replied  that  I  had  no  intention  of  injuring  any 
man  on  board,  but  I  should  be  glad  if  they  would  allow  me  to  go  away 
quietly.  At  length  this  flame  was  quenched,  and  through  the  goodness  of  God 
I  escaped  destruction. 

Roatan  Harbor,  like  all  about  the  Bay  of  Honduras,  is  full  of  small  islands, 
which  pass  under  the  general  name  of  "  Keys  ;"  and  having  got  in  there,  Low, 
with  some  of  his  chief  men,  landed  on  a  small  island  which  they  called  "Port 
Royal  Key."  There  they  erected  huts,  and  continued  carousing,  drinking,  and 
firing,  while  the  different  vessels  of  which  they  now  had  possession  were  repairing^ 

On  Saturday,  the  9th  of  March,  1723,  the  cooper  and  six  hands  were  going 
ashore  in  the  long-boat  for  water  ;  and  on  their  coming  alongside  of  the 
schooner,  I  requested  to  be  of  the  party.  The  cooper  hesitated.  I  urged  that 
I  had  never  hitherto  been  ashore,  and  thought  it  hard  to  be  so  closely  confined 
when  every  one  besides  had  the  liberty  of  landing  when  there  was  occasion. 
Low  had  before  told  me  that  I  should  go  home  when  he  did,  and  swore  that 
I  should  never  previously  set  my  foot  on  land.  But  now  I  considered,  if  I 
could  possibly  once  get  on  terra  Jirma,  though  in  ever  so  bad  circumstances, 
I  should  count  it  a  happy  deliverance,  and  resolved  never  to  embark  again. 

The  cooper  at  length  took  me  into  the  long-boat.  Low  and  his  chief  people 
were  on  a  different  island  from  Roatan,  where  the  watering-place  lay.  My  only 
clothing  was  an  Osnaburg  frock  and  trousers,  a  milled  cap,  but  neither  shirt, 
shoes,  stockings,  nor  anything  else. 

When  we  first  landed,  I  was  very  active  in  assisting  to  get  the  casks  out 
of  the  boat,  and  in  rolling  them  to  the  watering-place.  Then,  taking  a  hearty 
draught  of  water,  I  strolled  along  the  beach,  picking  up  stones  and  shells.  On 
reaching  the  distance  of  musket-shot  from  the  party,  I  began  to  withdraw 
towards  the  skirts  of  the  woods.  In  answer  to  a  question  by  the  cooper  as  to 
whither  I  was  going,  I  replied,  "  For  cocoa-nuts,"  as  some  cocoa-trees  were  just 
before  me  ;  but  as  soon  as  I  was  out  of  sight  of  my  companions  I  took  to  my 
heels,  running  as  fast  as  the  thickness  of  the  bushes  and  my  naked  feet 
would  admit. 

Notwithstanding  I  had  got  considerable  way  into  the  woods,  I  was  still  so 
near  as  to  hear  the  voices  of  the  party  if  they  spoke  loudly,  and  I  therefore 
hid  in  a  thicket  where  I  knew  they  could  not  find  me.  After  my  comrades 
had  filled  their  casks,  and  were  about  to  depart,  the  cooper  called  out  to  me  to 
accompany  them  ;  however,  I  lay  snug  in  the  thicket,  and  gave  him  no  answer, 


146  THE  PIRATE'S  APPRENTICE. 

though  his  words  were  plain  enough.  At  length,  after  hallooing,  I  could  hear 
them  say  to  one  another,  "  The  dog  is  lost  in  the  woods  and  cannot  find  the 
way  out  again."  Then  they  hallooed  once  more,  and  cried,  "  He  has  run  away 
and  won't  come  to  us  ; "  and  the  cooper  observed  that  had  he  known  my 
intention,  he  would  not  have  brought  me  ashore. 

Satisfied  of  their  inability  to  find  me  among  the  trees  and  bushes,  the  cooper 
at  last,  to  show  his  kindness,  exclaimed,  "  If  you  do  not  come  away   presently 
I  shall  go  off  and    leave  you  alone."      Nothing,   however,  could  induce   me  to 
discover  myself ;  and  my  comrades,  seeing  it  vain  to  wait  any  longer,   put  off 
without  me. 

Thus  I  was  left  on  a  desolated  island,  destitute  of  all  help,  and  remote  from 
the  track  of  navigators  ;  but  compared  with  the  state  and  society  I  had  quitted, 
I  considered  the  wilderness  hospitable,  and  the  solitude  interesting. 

When  I  thought  the  whole  were  gone,  I  emerged  from  my  thicket  and 
came  down  to  a  small  run  of  water,  about  a  mile  from  the  place  where  our 
casks  were  filled,  and  there  sat  down  to  observe  the  proceedings  of  the 
pirates.  To  my  great  joy,  in  five  days  their  vessels  sailed,  and  I  saw  the 
schooner  part  from  them  to  shape  a  different  course.  I  then  began  to  reflect 
on  myself  and  my  present  condition.  I  was  on  an  island  which  I  had  no  means 
of  leaving;   I  knew  of  no  human  being  within  many   miles;   my  clothing  was       •  t 

scanty,  and  it  was  impossible  to  procure  a  supply  ;  I  was  altogether  destitute 
of  provisions,  nor  could  I  tell  how  my  life  was  to  be  supported.  This  melancholy 
prospect  drew  a  copious  flood  of  tears  from  my  eyes  ;  but  as  it  had  pleased 
God  to  grant  my  wishes  in  being  liberated  from  those  whose  occupation  was  the 
devising  mischief  against  their  neighbors,  I  resolved  to  account  every  hardship 
light.  Yet  Low  would  never  suffer  his  men  to  work  on  the  Sabbath,  which 
was  more  devoted  to  play  ;  and  I  have  even  seen  some  of  them  sit  down  to 
to  read  in  a  good  book. 

In  order  to  ascertain  how  I  was  to  live  in  time  to  come,  I  began  to  range 
over  the  island,  which  proved  ten  or  eleven  leagues  long.  But  I  soon  found 
that  my  only  companions  would  be  the  beasts  of  the  earth  and  the  fowls  of  the 
air  ;  for  there  were  no  indications  of  any  habitations  on  the  island,  though 
every  now  and  then  I  found  some  shreds  of  earthenware  scattered  in  a  lime- 
walk,  said  by  some  to  be  the  remains  of  Indians  formerly  dwelling  here. 

The  island  was  well  watered,  full  of  high  hills  and  deep  valleys.  Numerous 
fruit-trees,  such  as  figs,  vines,  and  cocoanut,  are  found  in  the  latter  ;  and  I 
found  a  kind  larger  than  an  orange,  oval-shaped,  of  a  brownish  color  without 
and  red  within.  Though  many  of  these  had  fallen  under  the  trees,  I  could 
not  venture  to  take  them  until  I  saw  the  hogs  feeding  with  safety,  and  then 
I  found  them  very  delicious  fruit. 

Stores  of  provisions  abounded  here,  though  I  could  avail  myself  of  nothing 
but  the  fruit  ;  for  I  had  no  knife  or  iron  implement,  either  to  cut  up  a 
tortoise  on  turning  it,  or  as  weapons  wherewith  to  kill  animals.     Nor  had   I 


THE  PIRATE'S  APPRENTICE. 


147 


any  means  of  making  a  fire  to  cook  my  capture,  even  if  I  were  successful. 
Sometimes  I  entertained  thoughts  of  digging  pits  and  covering  them  over  with 
small  branches  of  trees,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  hogs  and  deer  ;  but  I  wanted 
a  shovel  and  every  substitute  for  the  purpose,  and  I  was  soon  convinced  that 
my  hands  were  insufficient  to  make  a  cavity  deep  enough  to  retain  what 
should  fall  into  it.  Thus  I  was  forced  to  rest  satisfied  with  fruit,  which  was 
to  be  esteemed  very  good  provision  for  any  one  in  my  condition. 


■I    FOUND   NEARLY   A   HUNDRKD   AND   FIFTY   TORTOISE'S   EGGS." 

In  process  of  time,  while  poking  among  the  sand  with  a  stick  in  quest  o' 
tortoise's  eggs  —  which  I  had  heard  were  laid  in  the  sand  —  part  of  one  came  up 
adhering  to  it  ;  and  on  removing  the  sand  I  found  nearly  a  hundred  and  fifty, 
which  had  not  lain  long  enough  to  spoil.  Therefore,  taking  some,  I  ate  them, 
and  strung  others  on  a  strip  of  palmetto,  which,  being  hung  up  in  the  sun, 
became  thick  and  somewhat  hard,  so  that  they  were  more  palatable.  After  all, 
they  were  not  very  savory  food  ;  yet,  having  nothing  but  what  fell  from  the 
trees,  I  remained  contented.  Tortoises  lay  their  eggs  in  the  sand  in  holes  about 
a  foot  or  a  foot  and  a  half  deep,  and  smooth  the  surface  over  them,  so  that 
there  is  no  discovering  where  they  lie.  According  to  the  best  of  my  obser- 
vation, the  young  are  hatched  in  eighteen  or  twenty  days,  and  then  immediately 
take  to  the  water. 


148  THE  PIRATE'S  APPRENTICE. 

Many  serpents  are  on  this  and  the  adjacent  islands  ;  one,  about  twelve  or 
fourteen  feet  long,  is  as  large  as  a  man's  waist,  but  not  poisonous.  When  lying 
at  length,  they  look  like  old  trunks  of  trees  covered  with  short  moss,  though 
they  usually  assume  a  circular  position.  The  first  time  I  ever  saw  one  of  these 
serpents,  I  had  approached  very  near  before  discovering  it  to  be  a  living 
creature  ;  it  opened  its  mouth  wide  enough  to  have  received  a  hat,  and  breathed 
on  me.  A  small  black  fly  creates  such  annoyance  that,  even  if  a  person  pos- 
sessed ever  so  many  comforts,  his  life  would  be  oppressive  to  him,  unless  for 
the  possibility  of  retiring  to  some  small  Key  destitute  of  wood  and  bushes, 
where  multitudes  are  dispersed  by  the  wind. 

To  this  place,  then,  was  I  confined  during  nine  months  without  seeing  a 
human  being.  One  day  after  another  was  lingered  out,  I  know  not  how,  void 
of  occupation  or  amusement  except  collecting  food,  rambling  from  hill  to  hill, 
and  gazing  on  sky  and  water.  Although  my  mind  was  occupied  by  many 
regrets,  I  had  the  reflection  that  I  was  lawfully  employed  when  taken,  so  that 
I  had  no  hand  in  bringing  misery  on  myself.  I  was  also  comforted  to  think  that  I 
had  the  approbation  and  consent  of  my  parents  in  going  to  sea ;  and  I  trusted 
that  it  would  please  God,  in  His  own  time  and  manner,  to  provide  for  my  return  to 
my  father's  house.     Therefore  I  resolved  to  submit  patiently  to  my  misfortune. 

It  was  my  daily  practice  to  ramble  from  one  part  of  the  island  to  another, 
though  I  had  a  more  special  home  near  the  waterside.  Here  I  built  a  hut,  to 
defend  me  against  the  sun  by  day,  and  heavy  dews  by  night.  Taking  some 
of  the  best  branches  that  I  could  find  fallen  from  the  trees,  I  contrived  to  fix 
them  against  a  low  hanging  bough,  by  fastening  them  together  with  split 
palmetto-leaves  ;  next  I  covered  the  whole  with  some  of  the  largest  and  most 
suitable  leaves  that  I  could  get.  Many  of  these  huts  were  constructed  by  me, 
generally  near  the  beach,  with  the  open  part  fronting  the  sea,  to  have  the 
better  look-out  and  the  advantage  of  the  sea-breeze,  which  both  the  heat  and 
the  vermin  required.  But  the  insects  were  so  troublesome  that  I  thought  of 
endeavoring  to  get  over  to  some  of  the  adjacent  Keys,  in  hopes  of  enjoying 
rest.  However,  I  was,  as  already  said,  a  very  indifferent  swimmer  ;  1  had  no 
canoe,  nor  any  means  of  making  one.  At  length,  having  got  a  piece  of  bamboo, 
I  ventured,  after  frequent  trials  with  it  under  my  breast  and  arms,  to  put  off 
for  a  small  Key  about  a  gunshot  distant,  which  I  reached  in  safety. 

My  new  place  of  refuge  was  only  about  three  or  four  hundred  feet  in  circuit, 
lying  very  low  and  clear  of  wood  and  brush  ;  from  exposure  to  the  wind  it  was 
quite  free  of  vermin,  and  I  seemed  to  have  got  into  a  new  world,  where  I  lived 
infinitely  more  at  case.  Hither  I  retired,  therefore,  when  the  heat  of  the  day 
rendered  the  insects  most  obnoxious.  Yet  I  was  obliged  to  be  much  on  Roatan, 
to  procure  food  and  water  ;  and  at  night,  on  account  of  my  hut.  When  swim- 
ming backward  and  forward  between  the  two  islands,  I  used  to  bind  my  frock 
and  trousers  about  my  head  ;  and  if  I  could  have  carried  over  wood  and  leaves 
whereof  to  make  a  hut,  I   should  have   passed   more  time  on  the  smaller  one.. 


THE  PIRATE'S  APPRENTICE.  149 

Yet  these  excursions  were  not  unattended  with  danger  Once,  I  remember, 
when  I  was  passing  from  the  larger  island,  the  bamboo,  before  I  was  aware, 
slipped  from  under  me,  and  the  tide  or  current  set  down  so  strong  that  it  was 
with  great  difficulty  I  could  reach  the  shore.  At  another  time  I  was  swimming 
over  to  the  small  island  when  a  shovel-nosed  shark  struck  me  in  the  thigh  just 
as  my  foot  could  reach  the  bottom,  and  grounded  itself,  from  the  shallowness 
of  the  water  (  as  I  suppose  ),  so  that  its  mouth  could  not  get  round  toward  me. 
The  blow  I  felt  some  hours  after  making  the  shore.  By  repeated  practice  I  at 
length  became  a  pretty  dexterous  swimmer,  and  amused  myself  by  passing  from 
one  island  to  another  among  the  Keys. 

I  suffered  very  much  from  being  barefoot,  so  many  deep  wounds  being  made 
in  my  feet  from  traversing  the  woods,  where  the  ground  was  covered  with  sticks 
and  stones,  and  on  the  hot  beach,  over  sharp  broken  shells,  that  I  was  scarce 
able  to  walk  at  all.  Often  when  treading  with  all  possible  caution,  a  stone  or 
shell  on  the  beach,  or  a  pointed  stick  in  the  woods,  would  penetrate  the  old 
wound,  and  the  extreme  anguish  would  strike  me  down,  as  suddenly  as  if  I 
had  been  shot.  Then  I  would  remain  for  hours  together,  with  tears  gushing 
from  my  eyes  from  the  acuteness  of  the  pain.  I  could  travel  no  more  than 
absolute  necessity  compelled  me  in  quest  of  subsistence  ;  and  I  have  sat,  my 
back  leaning  against  a  tree,  looking  out  for  a  vessel  during  a  complete  day. 

Once,  while  I  sat  faint  from  such  injuries,  as  well  as  smarting  under  the 
pain  of  them,  a  wild  boar  rushed  towards  me.  I  knew  not  what  to  do,  for  I 
had  not  strength  to  resist  his  attack  ;  therefore,  as  he  drew  nearer,  I  caught 
the  bough  of  a  tree,  and  half  suspended  myself  by  means  of  it.  The  boar  tore 
away  part  of  my  ragged  trousers  with  his  tusks,  and  then  left  me.  This,  I 
think,  was  the  only  time  that  I  was  attacked  by  any  wild  beast  ;  and  I 
considered  myself  to  have  had  a  very  great  deliverance. 

As  my  weakness  continued  to  increase,  I  often  fell  to  the  ground  insensible, 
and  then,  as  also  when  I  laid  myself  to  sleep,  I  thought  I  should  never  wake 
again  or  rise  in  life.  Under  this  affliction,  I  first  lost  count  of  the  days  of 
the  week  ;  I  could  not  distinguish  Sunday,  and  as  my  illness  became  more 
aggravated  I  bcame  ignorant  of  the  month  also.  All  this  time  I  had  no  healing 
balsam  for  my  feet,  nor  any  cordial  to  revive  my  drooping  spirits.  My  utmost 
efforts  could  only  now  and  then  procure  some  figs  and  grapes  Neither  had  I 
fire  ;  for  though  I  had  heard  of  a  way  to  procure  it  by  rubbing  two  sticks 
together,  my  attempts  in  this  respect,  continued  until  I  was  tired,  proved 
abortive.  The  rains  having  come  on,  attended  with  chill  winds,  I  suffered  ex- 
ceedingly. While  passing  nine  months  in  this  lonely,  melancholy  and  iiksome 
condition,  my  thoughts  would  sometimes  wander  to  my  parents,  and  I  reflected 
that,  notwithstanding  it  would  be  consolatory  to  myself  if  they  knew  where  I 
was,  it  might  be  distressing  to  them.  The  nearer  my  prospect  of  death,  which 
I  often  expected,  the   greater  my  penitence  became. 

Some  time  in   November,  1723,  I  descried  a  small  canoe  approaching  with 


ISO  THE  PIRATE'S  APPRENTICE. 

a  single  man  ;  but  the  sight  excited  little  emotion.  I  kept  my  seat  on  the 
beach,  thinking  I  could  not  expect  a  friend,  and  knowing  that  I  had  no  enemy 
to  fear,  nor  was  I  capable  of  resisting  one. 

As  the  man  approached,  he  betrayed  many  signs  of  surprise.  He  called  me 
to  him,  and  I  told  him  he  might  safely  venture  ashore,  for  I  was  alone  and 
almost  expiring.  Coming  close  up,  he  knew  not  what  to  make  of  me  ;  my 
garb  and  countenance  seemed  so  singular  that  he  looked  wild  with  astonish- 
ment. He  started  back  a  little,  and  surveyed  me  more  thoroughly,  but, 
recovering  himself  again,  came  forward,  and,  taking  me  by  the  hand,  expressed 
his  satisfaction  at  seeing  me. 

This  stranger  proved  to  be  a  native  of  North  Britain  ;  he  was  well  advanced 
in  years,  of  a  grave  and  venerable  aspect,  and  of  a  reserved  temper.  His  name 
I  never  knew  ;  he  did  not  disclose  it,  and  I  had  not  inquired  during  the 
period  of  our  acquaintance.  But  he  informed  me  he  had  lived  twenty-two 
years  with  the  Spaniards,  who  now  threatened  to  burn  him,  though  I  know 
not  for  what  crime  ;  therefore  he  had  fled  hither  as  a  sanctuary,  bringing  his 
dog,  gun,  and  ammunition,  as  also  a  small  quantity  of  pork,  along  with  him. 
He  designed  spending  the  remainder  of  his  days  on  the  island,  where  he 
could  support  himself  by  hunting.  I  experienced  much  kindness  from  the 
stranger  ;  he  was  always  ready  to  perform  any  civil  offices,  and  assist  me 
in  whatever  he  could,  though  he  spoke  little.  He  also  gave  me  a  share 
of  his  pork. 

On  the  third  day  after  his  arrival,  he  said  he  would  make  an  excursion  in 
his  canoe  among  the  neighboring  islands,  for  the  purpose  of  killing  wild  hogs 
and  deer,  and  wished  me  to  accompany  him.  Though  my  spirits  were  somewhat 
recruited  by  his  society,  the  benefit  of  the  fire  which  I  now  enjoyed,  and 
dressed  provisions,  my  weakness  and  the  soreness  of  my  feet  prevented  me  ; 
therefore  he  set  out  alone,  saying  he  would  return  in  a  few  hours.  The  sky 
was  serene,  and  there  was  no  prospect  of  any  danger  during  a  short  excursion, 
seeing  he  had  come  nearly  twelve  leagues  in  safety  in  his  canoe  ;  but  when  he 
had  been  absent  about  an  hour,  a  violent  gust  of  wind  and  rain  arose,  in 
which  he  probably  perished,  as  I  never  heard  of  him  more.  Thus  after  having 
the  pleasure  of  a  companion  almost  three  days,  I  was  reduced  to  my  former 
lonely  state  as  unexpectedly  as  I  had  been  relieved  from  it. 

Yet  through  God's  goodness  I  was  myself  preserved,  from  having  been 
unable  to  accompany  him,  and  I  was  left  in  better  circumstances  than  those  in 
which  he  had  found  me  ;  for  now  I  had  about  five  pounds  of  pork,  a  knife,  a 
bottle  of  gunpowder,  tobacco-tongs  and  flint,  by  which  means  my  life  could  be 
rendered  more  comfortable.  I  was  enabled  to  have  fire,  extremely  requisite  at 
this  time,  being  the  rainy  months  of  winter  ;  I  could  cut  up  a  tortoise,  and 
have  a  delicate  broiled  meal.  Thus  by  the  help  of  the  fire  and  the  dressed 
provisions,  through  the  blessing  of  God  I  began  to  recover  strength,  though  the 
soreness  of  my  feet  remained.     But  I  had,  besides,  the  advantage  of  being  able 


ATTACKED    BY     THE     WII,D     BOAR.     (p.  149.) 


152  THE  PIRATE'S  APPRENTICE. 

now  and  then  to  catch  a  dish  of  cray-fish,  which  when  roasted  proved  good 
eating.  To  accomplish  this  I  made  up  a  small  bundle  of  old  broken  sticks, 
resembling  pitch-pine  or  candle-wood,  and  having  lighted  one  end,  waded,  with 
it  in  my  hand,  up  to  my  waist  in  water.  The  cray-fish,  attracted  by  the 
light,  would  crawl  to  my  feet,  and  lie  directly  under  it,  when,  by  means  of  a 
forked  stick,  I  could  toss  them  ashore. 

Between  two  and  three  months  after  the  time  of  losing  my  companion,  I 
found  a  small  canoe  while  ranging  along  the  shore.  The  sight  of  it  revived 
my  regret  for  his  loss,  for  I  judged  that  it  had  been  his  canoe,  and  from 
being  washed  up  here,  a  certain  proof  of  his  having  been  lost  in  the  tempest ; 
but  on  examining  it  more  narrowly  I  satisfied  myself  that  it  was  one  which  I 
had  never  seen  before. 

Master  of  this  little  vessel,  I  began  to  think  myself  admiral  of  the  neigh- 
bouring seas,  as  well  as  sole  possessor  and  chief  commander  of  the  islands. 
Profiting  by  its  use,  I  could  transport  myself  to  the  places  of  retreat  more 
conveniently  than  by  my  former  expedient  of  swimming.  In  process  of  time 
I  projected  an  excursion  to  some  of  the  larger  and  more  distant  islands,  partly 
to  learn  how  they  were  stored  or  inhabited,  and  partly  for  sake  of  amusement. 

Laying  in  a  stock  of  figs  and  grapes,  therefore,  as  also  some  tortoise  to  eat, 
and  carrying  my  implements  for  fire,  I  put  off  to  steer  for  the  island  of 
Bonacco,  which  is  about  four  or  five  leagues  long,  and  situated  five  or  six  from 
Roatan.  In  the  course  of  the  voyage,  observing  a  sloop  at  the  east  end  of 
the  island,  I  made  the  best  of  my  way  to  the  west,  designing  to  travel  down 
by  land,  both  because  a  point  of  rocks  ran  far  into  the  sea,  beyond  which  I 
did  not  care  to  venture  in  the  canoe,  as  was  necessary  if  I  wished  to  come 
ahead  of  the  sloop,  and  because  I  wished  to  ascertain  something  concerning 
her  people  before  I  was  discovered.  Even  in  my  worst  circumstances  I  never 
could  brook  the  thought  of  returning  on  board  of  any  piratical  vessel,  and 
resolved  rather  to  live  and  die  in  my  present  situation. 

Hauling  up  the  canoe,  and  making  it  fast  as  well  as  I  was  able,  I  set  out 
on  the  journey.  My  feet  were  yet  in  such  a  state  that  two  days  and  the 
best  parts  of  two  nights  were  occupied  in  it.  Sometimes  the  woods  and  bushes 
were  so  thick  that  it  was  necessary  to  crawl  half  a  mile  together  on  my  hands 
and  knees,  which  rendered  my  progress  very  slow.  When  within  a  mile  or  two 
of  the  place  where  I  supposed  the  sloop  might  lie,  I  made  for  the  water-side,  and 
approached  the  sea  gradually,  that  I  might  not  too  soon  disclose  myself  to 
view  ;  however,  on  reaching  the  beach,  there  was  no  appearance  of  the  sloop, 
whence  I  judged  that  she  had  sailed  during  the  time   spent  by  me  in  travelling. 

Being  much  fatigued  with  the  journey,  I  rested  myself  against  the  stump  of 
a  tree,  with  my  face  towards  the  sea,  where  sleep  overpowered  me  ;  but  I  had 
not  slumbered  long  before  I  was  suddenly  awakened  by  the  noise  of  firing. 

Starting  up  in  affright  I  saw  nine  "  periaguas,"  or  large  canoes,  full  of  men, 
firing  upon  me  from  the  sea,    whence   I    soon    turned   about,  and   ran  among 


THE  PIRATE'S  APPRENTICE.  153 

the  bushes    as   fast  as   my  sore   feet  would    allow,    while    the  men,    who   were 
Spaniards,  cried  after  me,  "  O  Englishman,  we  will  give  you  good  quarter." 

However,  my  astonishment  was  so  great,  and  I  was  so  suddenly  roused  from 
sleep,  that  I  had  no  self-command  to  listen  to  their  offers  of  quarter,  which,  it 
may  be,  at  another  time  in  my  cooler  moments  I  might  have  done.  Thus  I 
made  into  the  woods,  and  the  strangers  continued  firing  after  me,  to  the  number 


"I   SAW  NINE  CANOES." 

of  one  hundred  and  fifty  bullets  at  least,  many  of  which  cut  small  twigs  oflF 
the  bushes  close  by  my  side. 

Having  gained  an  extensive  thicket  beyond  reach  of  the  shot,  I  lay  close 
several  hours,  until,  observing  by  the  sound  of  their  oars  that  the  Spaniards 
were  departing,  I  crept  out.  I  saw  the  sloop  under  English  colors  sailing 
away  with  the  canoes  in  tow,  which  induced  me  to  suppose  she  was  an 
English  vessel  which  had  been  at  the  Bay  of  Honduras,  and  taken  <-here  by 
the  Spaniards. 

Next  day  I  returned  to  the  tree  where  I  had  been  so  nearly  surprised, 
and  was  astonished  to  find  six  or  seven  shot  in  the  trunk,  within  a  foot  or 
less  of  my  head.  Yet  through  the  wonderful  goodness  of  God,  though  having 
been  as  a  mark  to  shoot  at,  I  was  preserved. 


154  THE  PiRATE'S  APPRENTICE. 

After  this  I  travelled  to  recover  my  canoe  at  the  western  end  of  the  island, 
which  I  reached  in  three  days,  but  suffering  severely  from  the  soreness  of  my 
feet  and  the  scantiness  of  provision.  This  island  is  not  so  plentifully  stored 
as  Roatan,  so  that  during  the  five  or  six  days  of  my  residence  I  had  difficulty 
in  procuring  subsistence,  and  the  insects  were,  besides,  infinitely  more  numerous 
and  harassing  than  at  my  old  habitation.  These  circumstances  deterred  me 
from  further  exploring  the  island,  and  having  reached  the  canoe  very  tired  and 
exhausted  I  put  off  for  Roatan,  which  was  a  royal  palace  to  me  compared 
with  Bonacco,  and  arrived  at  night  in  safety.  Here  I  lived,  if  it  may  be  called 
living,  alone  for  about  seven  months  after  losing  my  North  British  companion. 
My  time  was  spent  in  the  usual  manner,  ranging  among  the  islands. 

Some  time  in  June,  1724,  while  on  the  same  Key  whither  I  often  retreated 
to  be  free  from  the  annoyance  of  insects,  I  saw  two  canoes  making  for  the 
harbor.  Approaching  nearer,  they  observed  the  smoke  of  a  fire  which  I  had 
kindled,  and  at  a  loss  to  know  what  it  meant,  they  hesitated  to  advance. 

What  I  had  experienced  at  Bonacco  was  still  fresh  in  my  memory,  and 
loth  to  run  the  risk  of  such  another  firing  I  withdrew  to  my  canoe,  lying 
behind  the  Key,  not  above  a  hundred  yards  distant,  and  immediately  rowed 
over  to  Roatan.  There  I  had  places  of  safety  against  an  enemy,  and  sufficient 
accomodation  for  any  ordinary  number  of  friends.  The  people  in  the  canoes 
observed  me  cross  the  sea  to  Roatan,  the  passage  exceeding  a  gunshot 
over,  and  being  as  much  afraid  as  I  was  of  Spaniards,  approached  very  cautiously 
towards  the  shore 

I  then  came  down  to  the  beach,  showing  myself  openly,  for  their  conduct 
led  me  to  think  that  they  could  not  be  pirates,  and  I  resolved,  before  being 
exposed  to  the  danger  of  their  shot,  to  inquire  who  they  were.  If  they  proved 
such  as  I  did  not  like,  I  could  easily  retire. 

But  before  I  spoke  they,  as  full  of  apprehension  as  I  could  be,  lay  on 
their  oars  and  demanded  who  I  was  and  whence  I  came  ;  to  which  I  replied 
that  I  was  "an  Englishman  and  had  run  away  from  pirates"  On  this  the}- 
drew  somewhat  nearer,  inquiring  who  was  there  besides  myself.  I  assured 
them  in  return  that  I  was  alone.  Next,  according  to  my  original  purpose, 
having  put  similar  questions  to  them,  I  heard  that  they  had  come  from  the 
Bay  of  Honduras.  Their  words  encouraged  me  to  bid  them  row  ashore,  which 
they  did  accordingly,  though  at  some  distance,  and  one  man  landed,  whom  I 
advanced  to  meet. 

But  he  started  back  at  the  sight  of  a  poor,  ragged,  wild,  forlorn,  miserable 
object  so  near  him.  Collecting  himself,  however,  he  took  me  by  the  hand,  and 
we  began  embracing  one  another — he  from  surprise  and  wonder,  and  I  from  a 
sort  of  ecstasy  of  joy.  When  this  was  over,  he  took  me  in  his  arms,  and 
carried  me  down  to  the  canoes,  where  all  his  comrades  were  struck  with  astonish- 
ment at  my  appearance  ;  but  they  gladly  received  me,  and  I  experienced  great 
tenderness  from  them. 


THE  PIRATE'S  APPRENTICE.  155 

I  gave  the  strangers  a  brief  account  of  my  escape  from  Low,  and  my  lonely 
residence  for  sixteen  months,  all  excepting  three  days,  the  hardships  I  had 
suffered,  and  the  dangers  to  which  I  had  been  exposed.  They  stood  amazed 
at  the  recital.  They  wondered  I  was  alive,  and  expressed  much  satisfaction  at 
being  able  to  relieve  me.  Observing  me  very  weak  and  depressed,  they  gave 
me  about  a  spoonful  of  rum  to  recruit  my  fainting  spirits  ;  but  even  this  small 
quantity,  from  my  long  disuse  of  strong  liquors,  threw  me  into  a  violent 
agitation,  and  produced  a  kind  of  stupor,  which  at  last  ended  in  privation 
of  sense.  Some  of  the  party,  perceiving  a  state  of  insensibility  come  on,  would 
have  administered  more  rum,  which  those  better  skilled  among  them  prevented, 
and  after  lying  a  short  time  in  a  fit,  I  revived. 

Then  I  ascertained  that  the  strangers  were  eighteen  in  number,  the  chief 
of  them,  named  John  Hope,  an  old  man,  called  Father  Hope  by  his  companions, 
and  John  Ford,  and  all  belonging  to  the  Bay  of  Honduras.  The  cause  of  their 
coming  hither  was  an  alarm  at  a  threatened  attack  by  the  Spaniards  from  the 
sea,  while  the  Indians  should  make  a  descent  by  land  and  cut  off  the  bay  ; 
thus  they  had  fled  for  safety.  On  a  former  occasion  the  two  persons  above 
named  had  for  the  like  reason  taken  shelter  among  these  islands,  and  lived 
four  years  at  a  time  on  a  small  one  named  Barbarat,  about  two  leagues  from 
Roatan.  There  they  had  two  plantations  (as  they  called  them  )  ;  and  now  they 
brought  two  barrels  of  flour,  with  other  provisions,  fire-arms,  dogs  for  hunting, 
and  nets  for  tortoises,  and  also  an  Indian  woman  to  dress  their  provisions. 

Their  principal  residence  was  a  small  Key,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  round, 
lying  near  to  Barbarat,  and  named  by  them  the  "Castle  of  Comfort,"  chiefly 
because  it  was  low  and  clear  of  wood  and  bushes,  so  that  the  free  circulation 
of  the  wind  could  drive  away  the  pestiferous  mosquitoes  and  other  insects. 
Hence  they  sent  to  the  surrounding  islands  for  food,  water,  and  materials  to 
build  two  houses,  such  as  they  were,  for  shelter. 

I  had  now  the  prospect  of  a  much  more  agreeable  life  than  what  I  had 
spent  during  the  sixteen  months  past ;  for,  besides  having  company,  I  was 
treated  by  the  strangers,  after  their  way,  with  a  great  deal  of  civility.  They 
clothed  me,  and  gave  me  a  large  wrapping-gown  as  a  defence  against  the 
nightly  dews  until  their  houses  were  covered  ;  and  there  was  plenty  of  provi- 
sions. Yet,  after  all,  they  were  bad  society  ;  and  as  to  their  common  conversa- 
tion, there  was  little  difference  between  them  and  pirates.  However,  it  did  not 
appear  that  they  were  engaged  in  any  such  evil  design  as  rendered  it  unlawful 
to  join  them,  or  be  found  in  their  company.  In  process  of  time,  and  with  the 
assistance  afforded  by  my  companions,  I  gathered  so  much  strength  as  some- 
times to  be  able  to  hunt  along  with  them.  The  islands  abounded  with  wild 
hogs,  deer,  and  tortoise  ;  and  different  ones  were  visited  in  quest  of  game. 
This  was  brought  home,  where,  instead  of  being  immediately  consumed,  it  was 
hung  up  to  dry  in  the  smoke,  so  as  to  be  a  ready  supply  at  all  times.  I  now 
considered  myself  beyond  the  reach  of  danger  from  an  enemy,  for,  independent 


156  THE  PIRATE'S  APPRENTICE. 

of  supposing  that  nothing  could  bring  any  one  here,  I  was  surrounded  by  a 
number  of  men  with  arms  constantly  in  their  hands  ;  yet  at  the  very  time 
that  I  thought  myself  most  secure,  I  was  very  nearly  again  falling  into  the 
hands  of  pirates. 

Six  or  seven  months  after  the  strangers  joined  me,  three  of  them,  along 
with  myself  took  a  four-oared  canoe  for  the  purpose  of  hunting  and  killing 
tortoise  on  Bonacco  During  our  absence  the  rest  repaired  their  canoes,  and 
prepared  to  go  over  to  the  Bay  of  Honduras,  to  examine  how  matters  stood 
there,  and  bring  off  their  remaining  effects  in  case  it  were  dangerous  to 
return  ;  but  before  they  had  departed  we  were  on  our  voyage  homewards, 
having  a  full  load  of  pork  and  tortoise,  as  our  object  was  successfully 
accomplished. 

While  entering  the  mouth  of  the  harbor  in  a  moonlight  evening,  we  saw  a 
great  flash,  and  heard  a  report,  much  louder  than  that  of  a  musket,  proceed 
from  a  large  periagua  which  we  observed  near  the  "  Castle  of  Comfort." 

This  put  us  in  extreme  consternation,  and  we  knew  not  what  to  consider  ; 
but  in  a  minute  or  two  we  heard  a  volley  from  eighteen  or  twenty  small  arms 
discharged  towards  the  shore,  and  also  some  returned  from  it.  Satisfied  that 
an  enemy,  either  Spaniards  or  pirates,  was  attacking  our  people,  and  being 
intercepted  from  them  by  periaguas  lying  between  us  and  the  shore,  we  thought 
the  safest  plan  was  trying  to  escape.  Therefore  taking  down  our  little  mast 
and  sail,  that  they  might  not  betray  us,  we  rowed  out  of  the  harbor  as  fast 
as  possible,  towards  an  island  about  a  mile  and  a  half  distant,  trusting  to 
retreat  undiscovered.  But  the  enemy  having  either  seen  us  before  the  sail  was 
lowered,  or  hearing  the  noise  of  the  oars,  follow  with  all  speed  in  an  eight-or 
ten-oared  periagua.  Observing  her  approach,  and  fast  gaining  on  us,  we  rowed 
with  all  our  might  to  make  the  nearest  shore.  However,  she  was  at  length 
enabled  to  discharge  a  swivel,  the  shot  from  which  passed  over  our  canoe  ; 
nevertheless,  we  contrived  to  reach  the  shore  before  being  completely  within  the 
range  of  small  arms  which  our  pursuers  discharged  on  us  while  landing. 

They  were  now  near  enough  to  cry  aloud  that  they  were  pirates,  and  not 
Spaniards,  and  that  we  need  not  dread  them,  as  we  should  get  good  quarter, 
thence  supposing  that  we  should  be  the  easier  induced  to  surrender.  Yet 
nothing  could  have  been  said  to  discourage  me  more  from  putting  myself  in 
their  power.  I  had  the  utmost  dread  of  a  pirate,  and  my  original  aversion  was 
now  enhanced  by  the  apprehension  of  being  sacrificed  for  my  former  desertion. 
Thus  concluding  to  keep  as  clear  of  them  as  I  could,  and  the  Honduras 
Bay  men  having  no  great  inclination  to  do  otherwise,  we  made  the  best  of  our 
way  to  the  woods. 

Our  pursuers  carried  off  the  canoe  and  all  its  contents,  resolving,  if  we 
would  not  go  to  them,  to  deprive  us  as  far  as  possible  of  all  means  of  subsisting 
where  we  were.  But  it  gave  me,  who  had  known  both  want  and  solitude,  little 
concern,  now  that  I  had  company,  and  we  had  arms  among  .is  to  procure 
provisions,  and   also  fire   wherewith  to  dress  it. 


THE  PIRATE'S  APPRENTICE.  157 

Our  assailants  were  some  men  belonging  to  Spriggs,  my  former  commander, 
who  had  thrown  off  his  allegiance  to  Low,  and  set  up  for  himself  at  the  head 
of  a  gang  of  pirates,  with  a  good  ship  of  twenty-four  guns  and  a  sloop  of 
twelve,  both  at  present  lying  in  Roatan  Harbor.  He  had  put  in  for  fresh 
water,  and  to  refit,  at  the  place  w^here  I  first  escaped,  and,  having  discovered 
my  companions  at  the  small  island  of  their  retreat,  sent  a  periagua  full  of  men 
to  take  them.  Accordingly  they  landed  and  took  all  prisoners,  even  to  a  child 
and  the  Indian  woman.  They  killed  a  man  after  landing,  and  throwing  him 
into  one  of  the  canoes  containing  tar,  set  it  on  fire  and  burnt  his  body  in  it. 
Then  they  carried  the  people  on  board  of  their  vessels,  where  they  were 
barbarously  treated.  One  of  them  turned  pirate,  however,  and  told  the  others 
that  John  Hope  had  hid  many  things  in  the  woods  ;  therefore  they  beat  him  most 
unmercifully  to  make  him  disclose  his  treasure,  which  they  carried  off  with  them. 

After  the  pirates  had  kept  these  people  five  days  on  board  of  their  vessels, 
they  gave  them  a  flat  of  five  or  six  tons  to  carry  them  to  the  Bay  of 
Honduras,  but  no  kind  of  provision  for  the  voyage  ;  and  further,  before 
dismissal,  compelled  them  to  swear  that  they  would  not  come  near  me  and 
my  party,  who  had  escaped  to  another  island.  While  the  vessels  rode  in  the 
harbor,  we  kept  a  good  look-out,  but  were  exposed  to  some  difficulties  from 
not  daring  to  kindle  a  fire  to  dress  our  victuals,  lest  our  residence  should  be 
betrayed.  Thus  we  lived  for  five  days  on  raw  provisions.  As  soon  as  they 
sailed,  however,  Hope,  little  regarding  the  oath  extorted  from  him,  came  and 
informed  us  what  had  passed  ;  and  I  could  not,  for  my  part,  be  sufficiently 
grateful  to  Providence  for  escaping  the  hands  of  the  pirates,  who  would  have 
put  me  to  a  cruel  death. 

Hope  and  all  his  people,  except  John  Symonds,  now  resolved  to  make  their 
way  to  the  Bay.  Symonds,  who  had  a  negro,  wished  to  remain  some  time, 
for  the  purpose  of  trading  with  the  Jamaica  men  on  the  main  But  thinking 
my  best  chance  of  getting  to  New  England  was  from  the  Bay  of  Honduras,  I 
requested  Hope  to  take  me  with  him.  The  old  man,  though  he  would  have 
gladly  done  so,  advanced  many  objections,  such  as  the  insufficiency  of  the 
flat  to  carry  so  many  men  seventy  leagues  ;  that  they  had  no  provisions  for 
the  passage,  which  might  be  tedious,  and  the  flat  was,  besides,  ill-calculated 
to  stand  the  sea  ;  as  also  that  it  was  uncertain  how  matters  might  turn  out 
at  the  Bay.  Thus  he  thought  it  better  for  me  to  remain,  yet  rather  than  that 
I  should  be  in  solitude  he  would  take  me  in.  Symonds,  on  the  other  hand, 
urged  me  to  stay  and  bear  him  company,  and  gave  several  reasons  why  I 
should  more  likely  obtain  a  passage  irom  the  Jamaica  men  to  New  England 
than  by  the   Bay  of  Honduras. 

As  this  seemed  a  fairer  prospect  of  reaching  my  home,  which  I  was  ex- 
tremely anxious  to  do,  I  assented,  and  having  thanked  Hope  and  his  companions 
for  their  civilities  I  took  leave  of  them  and  they  departed.  Symonds  was 
provided    with    a  cannon,    firearms,  and  two  dogs   in  addition  to  his  negro,   by 


158  THE  PIIIATE'S  APPRENTICE. 

which  means  he  felt  confident  of  being  able  to  provide  all  that  was  necessary 
for  our  subsistence.  We  spent  two  or  three  months  after  the  usual  manner, 
ranging  from  island  to  island,  but  the  prevalence  of  the  winter  rains  precluded 
us  from  obtaining  more  game  than  we  required. 

When  the  season  for  Jamaica  traders   approached,   Symonds   proposed   re- 
pairing to  some  other  islands  to  obtain  a  quantity  of  tortoise-shell,  which  he  could 


ISLANDS    IN    THK   BAY    OF    HONDURAS 


exchange  for  clothes  and  shoes,  and  being  successful  in  this  respect  we  next 
proceeded  to  Bonacco,  which  lies  nearer  the  main,  that  we  might  thence  take 
a  favorable  opportunity  to  run  over.  Having  been  a  short  time  at  Bonacco, 
a  furious  tempest  arose  and  continued  for  three  days,  when  we  saw  several 
vessels  standing  in  for  the  harbor. 

The  largest  of  them  anchored  at  a  great  distance,  but  a  brigantine  came 
over  the  shoals  opposite  to  the  watering-place,  and  sent  her  boat  ashore  with 
casks.  Recognising  three  people  who  were  in  the  boat  by  their  dress  and 
appearance  for  Englishmen,  I  concluded  they  were  friends,  and  showed  myself 
openly  on  the  beach  before  thenii 


THE  PIRATE'S  APPRENTICE.  159 

They  ceased  rowing  immediately  on  observing  me,  and  after  answering 
their  inquires  of  who  I  was,  I  put  the  same  question,  saying  they  might 
come  ashore  with  safety.  They  did  so,  and  a  happy  meeting  it  was  for  me. 
I  now  found  that  the  vessels  were  a  fleet  under  convoy  of  the  Diamond 
man-of-war,  bound  for  Jamaica  ;  but  many  ships  had  parted  company  in  the 
storm. 

The  Diamond  had  sent  in  the  brigantine  to  get  water  here,  as  the  sickness 
of  her  crew  had  occasioned  a  great  consumption  of  that  necessary  article. 

Symonds,  who  had  kept  at  a  distance,  lest  the  three  men  might  hesitate  to 
come  ashore,  at  length  approached  to  participate  in  my  joy,  though  at  the  same 
time  testifying  considerable  reluctance  at  the  prospect  of  my  leaving  him  The 
brigantine  was  commanded  by  Captain  Dove,  with  whom  I  was  acquainted, 
and  she  belonged  to  Salem,  within  three  miles  of  my  father's  house.  Captain 
Dove  not  only  treated  me  with  great  civility,  and  engaged  to  give  me  a  passage 
home,  but  took  me  into  pay,  having  lost  a  seaman,  whose  place  he  wanted  me 
to  supply.  Next  day,  the  Diamond  having  sent  her  longboat  ashore  with 
casks  for  water,  they  were  filled  ;  and  after  taking  leave  of  Symonds,  who  shed 
tears  at  parting,  I  was  carried  on  board  the  brigantine. 

We  sailed,  along  with  the  Diamond,  which  was  bound  for  Jamaica,  in  the 
latter  end  of  March,  1725,  and  kept  company  until  the  1st  of  April.  By  the 
providence  of  Heaven  we  passed  safely  through  the  Gulf  of  Florida,  and  reached 
Salem  Harbor  on  the  ist  of  May,  two  years  ten  months  and  fifteen  days 
after  I  was  first  taken  by  the  pirates,  and  two  years  and  nearly  two  months 
after  I  made  my  escape  from  them  on  Roatan  Island.  That  same  evening  I 
went  to  my  father's  house,  where  I  was  received  as  one  risen  from  the  dead. 


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14  DAY  USE 


RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 


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